DailyPost 2460
PROFESSIONAL LOOSE CANNONS
Being professional and a loose cannon sounds antithetical and so should it be, in the copybook or classical and even the normative style of functioning. The have been gotten over in this divide successfully in our country and professional loose cannons have become hot potatoes and they are picked as no one’s business. Professional Loose Cannons can be broadly described as a ’community of professionals,’ who have some idea of the domain and the profession, but way below what is required, but have developed the art of selling themselves through connects, market positioning, and camouflage using the cutting-edge jargons for sale. They are found in every domain and in every profession.
They have a litany of unverified credentials and connects and having worked with renowned people or with persons in high positions. They talk of or have come from universities and institutions, which have brand image and credibility. At times, they might just have a vague certification from that institution. It might be unconnected to the expertise required but have by their uncanny knack to creating the connect, the person who has decide finds it very relevant. It comes in handy for the decision maker and decision can happen in a jiffy. Professional Loose Cannot is an expert in laying the ground for favourable decisions.
They generally don’t work without organisational or institutional support and all their professional dealings happen under that canopy, which also turns out to be their safe haven. The bidding is done by some organization on their behalf, mostly at a non-professional level, with expertise, experience and projects etc tick marked as per the check list. They are barely practitioners in that specific area, in case they are one, the vintage negates their utility. They spend large part of their time in creating the paraphernalia of their existence and then start living off it. They move from one connect to the other in a professional manner, with no one being able to get a whiff of it. They have perfected empanelment, nomination and other such routes.
They talk with finality, claiming global reach and cutting edge of knowledge, all carefully manicured for the purpose. They can be in any format; free lancers, consultancy MNCs, educational institutions, think tanks, international organizations, auditors, research bodies and even NGOs. All verifications are of paper verification type and there is no authority or system to check their true credentials; test, expert interviews, project wise verification, deliverable check, impact document verification, reference check, physical project check etc. At the end of the day, they themselves are the final world. They also give ideas for what they can be engaged in which manner. Fancy costing with comfort is another trait of theirs. They charge hefty and are unaccountable but for check list and completion certificate accountability. They come in political colours as well. Barely are they recognized in the public domain or in the real expert fraternity. This cocooned existence they love and thrive upon. On these professional loose cannons governance, academics, research and many times industry is dependent on.
THE COUNTRY NEEDS TO COME OUT OF THE CLUTCHES OF THE PROFESSIONAL LOOSE CANNONS.
Sanjay Sahay