I had another spirited debate with Ms. Bradley over the last three hours and considering the previous discussion I felt it was important you consider the following question:

Should we hold technical experts to a higher degree of responsibility for their comments?

I say yes.

There is no such thing as an award for the most opinionated professional that cannot substantiate anything with current or reputable information. There is no excuse, whatsoever, to ever misinterpret technical terms and then say “but it’s okay because in our context POP3 means POP3 connector” when the two technologies are unrelated and not interchangeable for one another.

I will say it again: If SMB IT Professionals are ever going to get respect for what they do they are going to have to earn it. “Small” is not an excuse, this is your job and you have to treat it with respect. You have to know the basics, you have to know the details, you have to support and justify your actions. You have to train, you have to document, you have to experiment and you have to act right.

The moment you devalue those basics you no longer deserve respect or anyones attention. The moment you lose your credibility is the moment at which your opinion no longer holds any value. I’d even argue that at that point you are no longer an expert but just an opinionated, yet uninformed, individual that happens to do some IT work on the side.

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