After being a member for sometime I have recently started to take more interest in this site with a view to networking with fellow professionals. Now I don’t wish to come across as arrogant, but some of the pictures of work posted I am tempted to comment in a constructive manor as to how I can see room for improvement, or alternate ways of achieving the desired results. Whilst it is good for the ego to receive compliment on one's work. I think to raise the standards within the industry & improve the dissemination of information we need a healthy and active debate. I believe a web site such as this should be a vehicle for fellow professionals and those acquiring new skills to freely exchange information & receive helpful & constructive advice from their peers.
In recent years I have had the opportunity to work with other landscapers who on the face of it seem professional, but who employ no qualified site staff. Mealy those that have drifted in to the industry. I find the level of ignorance and bad practice disappointing and disheartening after spending 30 years in the industry, that has been my career and my pleasure. Whist I wish to see no barriers to entry in this industry. I believe every one in it should be encouraged to seek out the technical knowledge and expediences to allow them to deliver a product we can all be proud of.
As this site is viewed by the general public I wouldn’t want to stifle contributors for fear of being seen in an unfair light. I for one would welcome such comment & advice on the pictures & debate I contribute on this web site. The day I stop learning is the day I retire
What’s your opinion? Is it a good idea to receive critical comments? How would you feel about about the general public seeing your work judged?
OK I’ve stood up, now someone knock me down ;-)
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Replies
What a refreshing approach Clive.
It's absolutely essential that every member should be able to comment freely on what they see and read and that's exactly what this site is for.
Sycophanticism (I know it's not a real word) is not what Landscape Juice seeks to encourage. Good, honest and open debate is the only way forward for us as an entire industry.
What I would hope, if a member is offended by the quality of workmanship that they'd witnessed, that they in the first instance, make contact in a private manner.
One point I would make about qualifications. There are very, very few businesses who can wholly claim to employ qualified people. First of all, qualification is very hard to define - what if an employee has City and Guilds level one in amenity horticulture but later in life began laying patios for a living, how would we define this?
About three years ago I asked the Association of Professional Landscapers to review the wording on their website because they had made the claim that all of their members only employed people who were fully qualified. The APL duly changed the wording.
ah ...spelling?? manner not manor
shoot me
Hi Philip
I would not want to put anyone down or disharten them with comments, but to seek to encourage. In fact I hope to post many more pictures and contribute more to the forums. I welcome anyone to add fair and informed comment on anything I put in the public domain.
In an ideal world we would all be duly qualified to highest standard but I would not wish to put off new talent from entering this industry and I have relished the opportunities of working with people that have arrived here by different roots...sorry routes and the different perspective they can bring. As an industry we suffer from a lack of dedicated impartial research, so some of the practices we have used as professionals have later been found to be flawed. The important thing is what you are learning now. My formal training started in amenity horticulture, but today I undertake hard landscaping, water features, garden lighting. New skills I have added along the way. As with all my skills these are based on thorough research and open and enquiring mind.
As for the contractors I worked with these were all APL members lacking qualified staff. The issue for me here is a lack of openness to new ideas and bad practice as a result.
Clive
www.thehandmadegarden.com
Felicty
One area you can guarantee to shoot me down is my spelling and punctuation. Even spell check doesn't save me sometimes!
Clive
www.thehandmadegarden.com
Gaynor
I dont think anything I have seen on here offends me. We are all somewhere on that learning curve. I would say for balance I have seen some very good work on here and hope, given time constraints to comment accordingly. Perhaps one day to work with some of these fellow professionals :-)
Clive
www.thehandmadegarden.com
I agree with Phil and Gaynor and think that it's a brilliant idea Clive - I would relish an opportunity to improve my skills wherever possible and have my work assessed peers: although I fear the facility will be difficult to achieve...
I am terrible at accepting criticism and I think this is founded within the idea that because my name is on the project, then the project represents me: any criticism therefore is digested as being a personal criticism. Obviously this is an issue I need to work at personally, but I know from reading continually about design and designers that this is a common (but not an entirely ubiquitous) issue: the separation of oneself from ownership, sponsorship and presentation of one's own ideas is a difficult pursuit. This would be the major hurdle for this project since most contributors (especially those with no exhibition experience) will simply lack the confidence to submit work.
The second barrier, as you have indicated, derives from the clear possibility that public access to these critiques could prove harmful for businesses and therefore the idea will lack enthusiasm if the particlular aspect of privacy (amongst peers) cannot be assured. Even then, poor (or at least vigorously "constructive") critiques will certainly provide (in)valuable information and ammunition for the more ruthless of our membership (even more so where competing businesses are concerned).
Thirdly, I wonder whether the members would physically have the time to critique other member's work on a regular and continual basis.
By making the forum private (as in members only - and only this particular forum...not LJN!) and by perhaps simplifying the critique process into perhaps 5 multiple choice questions and an optional "additional comments" box, we can almost fully address and nearly satisfy points 2 and 3. The first issue however may likely be a problem and proceeding with the idea may prove harmful to those members that really do need the reassurance rather than criticism: especially since the psychology follows that if they don't submit, then their work is sub-standard.
Somebody I'm sure will think of a solution and I would whole heartedly support the endeavour... and lay my neck on the block like everybody else!!
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com
"By making the forum private (as in members only - and only this particular forum...not LJN!)"
Since we've been having the paid membership debate recently I've been considering having just one paid group on LJN called LJ Confidential. We can certainly do something like Nicky suggests in there.