A professional attitude

"Under the Romans, towns developed, roads were built, and trade flourished," writes historian Thomas Sowell in Conquests and Cultures. They introduced technologies ranging from a better plough to window panes to latrines. The Britons, who had always lived in huts, saw buildings for the first time. Sculpture and representational art, which the Romans had themselves taken from the ancient Greeks, superseded Celtic designs.

When the Roman legions withdrew from the British isles early in the fifth century, it didn’t take long for things to fall apart. "By the beginning of the sixth century, British towns were crumbling, with buildings and statues in ruins, and the forests beginning to reclaim some human settlements," writes Sowell.

Why did this happen? Roman rule was arrogant and brutal. But the Romans also conquered Britain culturally as well as militarily, in that certain Britons began to wear the toga, speak Latin, and take baths. "As with other conquered peoples, it was the higher classes among the Britons who had the greatest tendency to adopt the language and culture of the conquerors, thereby acquiring some of the prestige of the dominant culture and such opportunities as existed to achieve favoured positions within the new order," says Sowell.

But the poorer masses, who worked mainly in agriculture, had no motive to adopt the Roman language or way of life. And, from what happened after the Romans left, it is clear that even after 400 years of subjugation, the elite Britons weren’t really Romanised either. If they had been, the infrastructure built by the Romans would have been maintained.

This 1500-year-old history has several lessons for us: About how human beings react to imposed rule, about the effects of class divisions on social development, and about the influence of an advanced culture on a lesser one. Writing in 1962 about Trinidad in The Middle Passage, VS Naipaul observed, "To be modern is to ignore local products and to use those advertised in American magazines. The excellent coffee which is grown in Trinidad is used only by the very poor and a few middle-class English expatriates. The elegant and comfortable morris chairs, made from local wood by local craftsmen, are not modern and have disappeared except from the houses of the poor."

The history also suggests why, 40 years after we became independent, we still often turn to foreign experts to solve our problems. But, while I agree with those who conclude that this is a futile approach, I don’t agree with their reasons for saying so. They often assert that there are local persons — in law, engineering, medicine, project development — who have the same expertise. However, when the Government or private companies hire foreigners, they aren’t really hiring them only for their technical knowledge. They are also hiring them for their professionalism.

But this is where the error happens. It may well be that these foreign experts are more professional — ie more efficient, more objective, more committed, more honest — than their local counterparts. But the tacit assumption is that, by hiring the foreigners as consultants or managers or what-have-you, these qualities will be imparted to the Trinidadians who have to run things afterwards. And that just doesn’t happen.

Professionalism, you see, is not merely an individual choice. It is also conditioned by the wider society. For an individual to have a professional attitude requires certain attributes: Technical competence in their field, a psychological commitment to efficiency and hard work, ethical standards, and regard for clients. But it is the cultural context which decides if a person develops these traits or ignores them.

In a place where such attributes are rewarded, then the individual is motivated to be professional. But in a place where these traits are ignored, or where they even work against you, then professionalism becomes merely an individual choice rather than a social value. So it may well be that the British or Japanese or German expert is, in fact, more professional than the Trinidadian equivalent, even if, technically speaking, there is nothing to choose between them.

It is this absence of professionalism as a social value which allows WASA CEO Errol Grimes and Fire Chief Lennox Alfred to offer blithe excuses about the "Drag Mall" fire. It is a lack of professionalism which allows Police Commissioner Trevor Paul to absolve the police of all responsibility for the spiralling crime rate. It is a lack of professionalism which makes Chief Justice Sat Sharma attempt to prevent the setting up of a tribunal. And this lack extends to other key areas: Education, health, media.

It seems that a professional attitude is one thing which we cannot import, and which all our oil wealth cannot create. Indeed, the energy dollars may actually militate against professionalism. Instead of maintaining what we have — buildings, buses, police cars — we feel we can just buy new ones. We prefer to fling money at problems, instead of brains.

This is a cultural problem, and changing cultural mores is the most difficult task facing any society

Ensuring that people are technically competent, while necessary, is not sufficient to create professionals. This is an area where change can only start from the top. The people who hold key positions must take action to ensure that individuals who embrace professionalism, as defined above, are supported, promoted, and given the means to influence others.

But, instantly, we run into another problem: How is this to happen in a society where mediocrity almost guarantees success? And that is the question I cannot answer.

E-mail: kbaldeosingh@hotmail.com

Website:www.caribscape.com/baldeosingh