Prevoditeljsko pleme

Svi smo mi jedno lijepo malo prevoditeljsko pleme. Tako bar ja doživljavam 'konkurenciju'. Odakle inspiracija za tekst na temu? Pitali su me više puta moji mlađi kolege iz ureda kako to da radimo za konkurenciju.

Prvi put me pitanje iznenadilo jer mi se činilo očitim da je klijent svatko tko naruči prijevod. A onda sam shvatila da to pitanje dolazi iz jedne zajednice u kojoj je normalno blatiti konkurenciju i držati se odvojeno svatko sam u svojoj lokvi. I was asked several times by my younger colleagues at office how come we work for competition.

The first time, the question surprised me because it seemed obvious that a client is anyone who orders a translation. But then I realized that this question appears in a community where it is normal to defame competition and stick to your own little puddle. Često pa i prečesto imamo prilike svjedočiti nepotrebnim razmiricama između članova našeg 'plemena', u posljednje vrijeme to se sve više događa online gdje smo zaštićeni korisničkim imenom pa se tim više još žešće baca drvlje i kamenje po kolegama i konkurenciji.

Naravno da je ljubomora ljudska i prirodna, naravno da je nemoguće složiti se sa svima, i uvijek će biti ljudi s kojima je teže i onih s kojima je lakše. Osobno sam stava da umjesto da jedni drugima (konkurenciji) oslabljujemo pozicije, da je vrijedniji onaj trud uložen u jačanje tih pozicija kako bismo zajednički poboljšali cijelo 'prevoditeljsko pleme'.

Već sam jednom pisala o tržištu prevođenja kao o bazenu u kojem ima vode za sve, a o nama (prevoditeljskim agencijama, obrtima, freelancerima, studentima) ovisi kako ćemo grabiti vodu iz bazena; hoćemo li to činiti čajnom žličicom, skupljenim dlanovima, čašom, kantama ili šupljačom. U mojoj teoriji posla ima za sve.

Ako se dobro organiziramo onda ćemo bolje, brže i više vode moći zagrabiti, a za bolju organizaciju bilo kakvo okrupljavanje i ujedinjavanje je svakako pozitivno. Jedna agencija ima jednu komparativnu prednost, a druga neku drugu. Naša je komparativna prednost da smo dobro uigran tim i da velike količine posla možemo odraditi in-house u uredu sa zajedničkim memorijama kvalitetno i konzistentno.

Druge agencije to koriste jer smo im pozdani i brzi. A zar nije to jedan uistinu krasan kompliment? Potajice, ja zapravo nakon svih stresova koje sam prošla u ovom poslu izrazito volim kad u Studiju Nixa radimo za konkurenciju. Ja zaista uživam u tim poslovima zbog toga što znam da je odgovornost za urednu isporuku itekako velik teret, a ne leži na nama.

Nekad prije je marketingaša u meni mučio koncept jačanja brenda konkurencije. Žarko sam željela eksterno priznanje za Studio Nixa, i to pravom, jer to je prirodna težnja nakon kvalitetno odrađenih zbilja nemogućih količina prijevoda u nemogućem roku. Međutim, kada se jačanje brenda i pozicije konkurencije odvagne s odgovornošću, jasna je prevaga na stranu mirnog spavanja.

Za Studio Nixa tekst napisala Ana Dumančić Fotografija Dražen Kokorić Often, even too often we witness unnecessary disputes between members of our 'tribe', and lately it is happening even more online, where we are protected by a username, which makes people all the more throw stones at colleagues and competition. Obviously, jealousy is human and natural, it is of course impossible to agree with everyone and there will always be nicer and less nice people. Personally, I believe that instead of weakening one another's (or competition's) position, a more valuable effort would be to strengthen our positions and work together to improve the 'translators' tribe' as a whole. I have already written about the translation market as a pool where there is water for all, and it is up to us (translation agencies, companies, freelancers, students) to decide how we will scoop the water out of the pool: with a teaspoon, cupped palms, glass, buckets or a sieve.

According to my theory, there is enough work for all. If we organize better, we will be able to scoop more water faster and better, and any gathering and unification will definitely have a positive effect on our organizing. One agency has one comparative advantage, other ones have another. Our competitive advantage is that we are a well-coordinated team able to do a large amount of work in-house, at office, with our translation memories with quality and consistency.

Other agencies use that because they find us very reliable and quick. And is not that a really nice compliment? After all the stress that I have gone though in this business, I secretly really like it when we in Studio Nixa work for the competition. I really enjoy these jobs because I know that the responsibility for a proper delivery is a large burden indeed, which in that case is not ours to take care of. Years ago, the marketing-lover in me was concerned by the concept of strengthening our competition's brands.

I yearned for external recognition for Studio Nixa, and rightly so, because it is a natural wish after providing quality translations in really impossible amounts and with impossible deadlines. However, when choosing between strengthening competition's brand and responsibility, clearly sound sleep wins.

By Ana Dumančić for Studio Nixa.