More from Curtis Brown
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:45 am
Attributes of a Profession.
Most surveyors have sufficient ego to want to measure up to the three learned professions rather than to measure down to those of doubtful standing whose only claim to fame may be by self proclamation. If the surveyor is to compare with the learned professions, he must approach the attributes of those professions and some of those attributes are:
1. Superior education in a field of knowledge.
2. Service to the public.
3. The possibility of gaining highest eminence without necessarily earning much money.
4. Providing services to those unable to pay.
5. Independent judgment and liability as a result of that judgment.
6. Ethics.
7. If fees are charged those able to pay, fees are dependent upon knowledge rather than labor or product.
Without question, superior education in a field of knowledge is an essential feature of a profession, and there is little question but what a good professional land surveyor should have superior knowledge in a specialized field. Some individual land surveyors, by self-effort or by formal training in colleges, are well educated, but, as compared to the learned professions, are surveyors required to have an equivalent amount of knowledge? How many licensed practicing surveyors have the benefit of a college degree as compared to the doctors, attorneys, and clergy? Proof of the simplicity of our knowledge requirements can be had by looking at the past surveyor examinations administered in many states. In a number of states no registration or examination is needed; in others the examination is so simplified that even the flunky, 3rd grade, could make a good showing. No wonder many look askance at our profession. The standing of all surveyors as a professional group will suffer unless we as a whole raise our requirements. Experience is never a complete substitute for education. It augments education, but can never supplant education. Education, of course, can be attained either formally at college or self taught at home. Whichever way it may be gained, there is no reason for allowing a professional surveyor to be registered without having superior knowledge. Without superior knowledge, we have an inferior profession.
Man’s knowledge in itself does not make a profession; man must use knowledge to aid, assist, teach, or benefit others. Application of knowledge to the affairs of others is an essential part of the definition of a profession.
The process of acquiring knowledge and the process of application of knowledge are distinctly different. Parrots can memorize a vocabulary of sorts, but who has ever observed a parrot with the ability to tell another of his needs? The knowledge and experience of a professional man combined with his ability to reason and arrive at a solution to a problem is why others seek his advice. The success or failure of each of us is, in a measure, due to our reasoning ability.
In the learned professions the professional man has a call of duty beyond that of a fee. The doctors are obligated to serve the sick regardless of ability to pay; the clergy do not turn away those in trouble; the attorneys defend the criminal. However, it is noted that the doctors and attorneys do charge a fee and those able to pay, must pay. This is as it ought to be.
The land surveyor does not display this type of obligation. It is doubtful if many surveyors would willingly serve those incapable of paying the required fee. Land surveying is not an urgent necessity; if it is not done today, it can be done tomorrow. If a person cannot pay today, his survey can wait until tomorrow. Attorneys more or less adopt this attitude for services in connection with business matters.
The surveyor does have moral obligations to the public and among them is the duty to never subtract from the rights of adjoins. Every boundary survey for a client establishes the boundary of an adjoined. One of the reasons for giving surveyors the exclusive privilege of marking boundaries is to prevent the unskilled from monumenting lines that encroach on the bona fide rights of others. As an obligation to the public, the surveyor should not, in any way, assist a client in acquiring rights to land that are not his to enjoy.
Any surveyor can attain eminence without necessarily earning much money. In your own area, what do other surveyors and the public think of you? Do they consider you ethical? Do they seek you out for advice? Have you contributed anything to the surveying profession, or do you just sit back and let others advance the profession? Is earning a dollar by any means more important than maintaining a principle? Will you sell your signature? Do you aid others in evading the licensing act? Do you degrade your fellow land surveyors? Have you actively pushed the cause of all surveyors or do you selfishly only look out for yourself? Are you active in your professional society? Have you had articles published in a professional surveyor’s magazine? Do you serve on committees? Or, do you just sit back on your prerogatives? One of the first duties of a professional man is to advance his profession. These questions serve to evaluate you. It is only by the concerted effort of all, which we as a group will advance to an unquestioned professional stature. In every community we find those that are substandard and those that have attained eminence.
Which are you?
Attorneys and doctors charge a fee, which is not dependent upon the physical labor or force applied. Personal knowledge gained through education and experience creates the demand for the service rather than the size of the muscle on the arm. Contracting is for businessmen actively competing on the basis of the lowest cost or the lowest bid. The moment services are based upon the lowest price, a profession has reduced itself to a business. Service based upon superior knowledge is the foundation of the fee of a professional. Are you a member of a profession, or are you a businessman? Many individuals in the matter of fees have attained professional standing. From the complaints I have heard in various meetings, I can only assume that, as a group, on the average, surveyors have not attained professional stature in their methods of charging fees.
Money, in itself, does not enter into the definition of a profession, but it does have a profound influence on what others think of a profession. Members of a group that show by their outward appearances that they are not successful in handling their own financial affairs can hardly instill confidence in the public. A person who uses antiquated equipment and the back room of his house as an office is not likely to contribute to professional standing.
Success breeds success. Outward appearances do count. They are a part of the overall picture.
Ethics is that branch of moral science, which treats of the duties that a member of a profession owes to the public, to his professional brethren, and to his client. Without ethics, land surveying can never be a profession.
Everyone is familiar with the fact that an individual may strictly observe the laws of the land and yet be an undesirable citizen and a poor neighbor. Lord Moulton in an article in the Atlantic Monthly (134 Atlantic Monthly 1, 13, 1924) stated, “The real greatness of a nation, its true civilization, is measured by the extent of Obedience to the Unenforceable.” Ethics are often unenforceable. True professional stature arises from obedience to the unenforceable.
Advocating observances of ethics is not sufficient; the surveyor’s personal example is far more important. It is not sufficient that the surveyor alone feels that he has honesty and integrity; the public, clients, and fellow practitioners must also believe so. The proof of observance of ethics lies in the opinions of others.
If we, as surveyors, are to maintain a respected position as professionals in the community, we must look beyond the club of the law to ethical standards which prohibit the doing of that which the law does not forbid.
Most surveyors have sufficient ego to want to measure up to the three learned professions rather than to measure down to those of doubtful standing whose only claim to fame may be by self proclamation. If the surveyor is to compare with the learned professions, he must approach the attributes of those professions and some of those attributes are:
1. Superior education in a field of knowledge.
2. Service to the public.
3. The possibility of gaining highest eminence without necessarily earning much money.
4. Providing services to those unable to pay.
5. Independent judgment and liability as a result of that judgment.
6. Ethics.
7. If fees are charged those able to pay, fees are dependent upon knowledge rather than labor or product.
Without question, superior education in a field of knowledge is an essential feature of a profession, and there is little question but what a good professional land surveyor should have superior knowledge in a specialized field. Some individual land surveyors, by self-effort or by formal training in colleges, are well educated, but, as compared to the learned professions, are surveyors required to have an equivalent amount of knowledge? How many licensed practicing surveyors have the benefit of a college degree as compared to the doctors, attorneys, and clergy? Proof of the simplicity of our knowledge requirements can be had by looking at the past surveyor examinations administered in many states. In a number of states no registration or examination is needed; in others the examination is so simplified that even the flunky, 3rd grade, could make a good showing. No wonder many look askance at our profession. The standing of all surveyors as a professional group will suffer unless we as a whole raise our requirements. Experience is never a complete substitute for education. It augments education, but can never supplant education. Education, of course, can be attained either formally at college or self taught at home. Whichever way it may be gained, there is no reason for allowing a professional surveyor to be registered without having superior knowledge. Without superior knowledge, we have an inferior profession.
Man’s knowledge in itself does not make a profession; man must use knowledge to aid, assist, teach, or benefit others. Application of knowledge to the affairs of others is an essential part of the definition of a profession.
The process of acquiring knowledge and the process of application of knowledge are distinctly different. Parrots can memorize a vocabulary of sorts, but who has ever observed a parrot with the ability to tell another of his needs? The knowledge and experience of a professional man combined with his ability to reason and arrive at a solution to a problem is why others seek his advice. The success or failure of each of us is, in a measure, due to our reasoning ability.
In the learned professions the professional man has a call of duty beyond that of a fee. The doctors are obligated to serve the sick regardless of ability to pay; the clergy do not turn away those in trouble; the attorneys defend the criminal. However, it is noted that the doctors and attorneys do charge a fee and those able to pay, must pay. This is as it ought to be.
The land surveyor does not display this type of obligation. It is doubtful if many surveyors would willingly serve those incapable of paying the required fee. Land surveying is not an urgent necessity; if it is not done today, it can be done tomorrow. If a person cannot pay today, his survey can wait until tomorrow. Attorneys more or less adopt this attitude for services in connection with business matters.
The surveyor does have moral obligations to the public and among them is the duty to never subtract from the rights of adjoins. Every boundary survey for a client establishes the boundary of an adjoined. One of the reasons for giving surveyors the exclusive privilege of marking boundaries is to prevent the unskilled from monumenting lines that encroach on the bona fide rights of others. As an obligation to the public, the surveyor should not, in any way, assist a client in acquiring rights to land that are not his to enjoy.
Any surveyor can attain eminence without necessarily earning much money. In your own area, what do other surveyors and the public think of you? Do they consider you ethical? Do they seek you out for advice? Have you contributed anything to the surveying profession, or do you just sit back and let others advance the profession? Is earning a dollar by any means more important than maintaining a principle? Will you sell your signature? Do you aid others in evading the licensing act? Do you degrade your fellow land surveyors? Have you actively pushed the cause of all surveyors or do you selfishly only look out for yourself? Are you active in your professional society? Have you had articles published in a professional surveyor’s magazine? Do you serve on committees? Or, do you just sit back on your prerogatives? One of the first duties of a professional man is to advance his profession. These questions serve to evaluate you. It is only by the concerted effort of all, which we as a group will advance to an unquestioned professional stature. In every community we find those that are substandard and those that have attained eminence.
Which are you?
Attorneys and doctors charge a fee, which is not dependent upon the physical labor or force applied. Personal knowledge gained through education and experience creates the demand for the service rather than the size of the muscle on the arm. Contracting is for businessmen actively competing on the basis of the lowest cost or the lowest bid. The moment services are based upon the lowest price, a profession has reduced itself to a business. Service based upon superior knowledge is the foundation of the fee of a professional. Are you a member of a profession, or are you a businessman? Many individuals in the matter of fees have attained professional standing. From the complaints I have heard in various meetings, I can only assume that, as a group, on the average, surveyors have not attained professional stature in their methods of charging fees.
Money, in itself, does not enter into the definition of a profession, but it does have a profound influence on what others think of a profession. Members of a group that show by their outward appearances that they are not successful in handling their own financial affairs can hardly instill confidence in the public. A person who uses antiquated equipment and the back room of his house as an office is not likely to contribute to professional standing.
Success breeds success. Outward appearances do count. They are a part of the overall picture.
Ethics is that branch of moral science, which treats of the duties that a member of a profession owes to the public, to his professional brethren, and to his client. Without ethics, land surveying can never be a profession.
Everyone is familiar with the fact that an individual may strictly observe the laws of the land and yet be an undesirable citizen and a poor neighbor. Lord Moulton in an article in the Atlantic Monthly (134 Atlantic Monthly 1, 13, 1924) stated, “The real greatness of a nation, its true civilization, is measured by the extent of Obedience to the Unenforceable.” Ethics are often unenforceable. True professional stature arises from obedience to the unenforceable.
Advocating observances of ethics is not sufficient; the surveyor’s personal example is far more important. It is not sufficient that the surveyor alone feels that he has honesty and integrity; the public, clients, and fellow practitioners must also believe so. The proof of observance of ethics lies in the opinions of others.
If we, as surveyors, are to maintain a respected position as professionals in the community, we must look beyond the club of the law to ethical standards which prohibit the doing of that which the law does not forbid.