I knew in my gut that there was something wrong with a system that couldn't fire its incompetents, and I had my share of incompetent college teachers. ↗
I think IT projects are about supporting social systems - about communications between people and machines. They tend to fail due to cultural issues. ↗
When it comes to professionalism, it makes sense to talk about being professional in IT. Standards are vital so that IT professionals can provide systems that last. ↗