Professionalism AND Competence

I think they got it wrong.

Yesterday's USA TODAY Snapshot poll question was this: "As long as they are good at their job, should rude and unprofessional co-workers be tolerated?"

And not surprisingly, a vast majority of those surveyed (84%) said "No."

But from this, USA TODAY concluded: "Professionalism over competence" (italics added by yours truly) and that's just faulty logic.

Without asking about the opposite side of the coin - something like, "As long as they are not rude or unprofessional, should co-workers who are awful at their job be tolerated?" - there's no real basis for their conclusion. Indeed, beware of conclusions based on insufficient evidence.

To me, it's as likely as not that most people would prefer their co-workers to be good at their job, polite AND professional. Wouldn't you?! But that wasn't asked.

Instead, people were asked to pick just one, which is like asking someone, "Which do you prefer - breathing in or breathing out? No, really, pick one!"

So don't pick just one, I say. Pick both. Pick professionalism AND competence.