Perfectionism and Translating Career

Theory of Ideas written by Plato (428- 348 B.C.)

I see significant orientation from the Theory of Ideas. According to the theory, physical world is not as real or true, and it is changing all the time. Only absolute, unchangeable Ideas (=forms) are true and timeless, because, those Ideas are perfect and do not change in time. So, Perfection is raised as Ancient Greek Value that should be reflected on Ancient Greek architecture, sculpture, army, government etc. in an effort to reach the perfection. It was thought that 'Perfect Social Order' would not change.(2)

Joy of Life

I started my career as English-Turkish legal and business translator. As I mastered in translation around 25 years ago, I clearly remember that at some point of time, I had began to translate as perfect as I could which was a bit different from “just translating”. Because, “just translating” was a heavy and boring job whereas “translation for perfection” was something beyond translation, relating to Joy of Life.

Perfectionism is a knife that cuts one way as mentioned under “maladaptive perfectionists”. We must remain at adaptive, or ‘healthy’ perfectionism which we adore at Greek Art.

In the following years, as Global Operations Manager, I have contacted an enormous number of professional translators of different language couples from 7 continents. Today, I am able to pick the translators who are translating for perfection, thanks to our Vendor Management Platform.

Conclusion

I’d like to claim that the career journey of the translators features similar patterns towards perfectionism, of course in a positive manner.

Author: Volkan Güvenç 

General Coordinator 

at Alafranga Language Solutions