Being a "Pro" has little to do with skill mastery

 Sometimes it seems like social media excels mostly at perpetuating wrong information. 

You find videos everywhere that tell you how to do something like a "Pro", then go on to discuss skill mastery.  In fact, great skill mastery takes time.  The application of high skill mastery takes time.  Most professionals do not usually have that much time to work in.  

Being a Professional is all about getting more done in less time.  It's about expediency.  That's how they are profitable. 

Skill mastery is getting things done with what one of my favorite instructors called, "gnats ass accuracy".  Meaning that there is a very specific result to be achieved with a very low tolerance of range.  It's very exact work.  Speed is achieved only by having done something so many times that's become a matter of muscle memory and familiarity.  The goal is not necessarily to be fast at it, it's to get it right without wasting time, movement,  and resources. 

Professionals work within parameters of "good enough".  As long as the results attained fall into that pre-determined range, it's done and on to the next task. That doesn't mean professionals don't want to have good results.  They do, but they want to get as much done in the least amount of total time and without waste, as possible.

There are master craftsmen out there who do not work in a professional capacity.   They are diy types and hobbyists usually.  The quality of their work and knowledge within a specific area is often unmatched, even by most professionals. 

But it's not a necessary comparison.   You don't need to have great skill to be a professional.  You just need the right skills to do the job.

Far too often though, many self described "professionals" conflate having those particular job skills with skill mastery.  The same social media that shows us those braggarts is the same one that shows us inspectors who make such "professionals" failures to even meet the broader parameters building codes have, very public.

There are very good reasons to hire contractors to do certain projects.  There are very good reasons to do those projects oneself.  Neither needs to be put down, shamed, or ridiculed.


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