Pirate QA

As part of my continuing to keep my family fed routine, I have spoken to my previous employer (the one who laid me off) about coming back to do some consulting. Not a full time job of course, but it would defray some costs and keep my hand in the industry while I figure out what's next.

As part of my change, on Linked In I went to change my title to "Independent Quality Consultant". Linked In, in it's computer wonderfulness and literalness, asked me for a company name. I had none. Nope, it did like that. It needs something to fill that particular hole in its memory.

So I put Pirate QA.

I didn't think anything about until Otis e-mailed me today about it, asking if I had started a company. No, I replied, it was to cover my consulting.

But why? I have this annoying compulsion to explain to people why I do what I do, even if I don't have to.

Because QA is stuffy. There are literally hundreds of consultants out there, with company names involving the words GXP/GMP/GCP Consultants/Experts/Inc. The best ones are "Bob Jones and Associates", which actually is only Bob Jones, Principal (there are never any associates). I can say in 11 years in the industry, I have seen not one company name or title with the hint of creativity or amusement in it.

Yes, I know pharmaceuticals are a serious business. Yes, I know that there are legal and regulatory ramifications. But could one of the very small reasons the industry is thought of so poorly is that they have the sense of creativity and humor of an armadillo (and I apologize to any armadillos with senses of humor)?

My vision is that of pirates storming the biopharmaceutical gates, responding in pirate talk to questions ("That be a right fine question, lad, but I canna take yer attitude. Mr. Franklin, see these landlubbers be scrubbing the cleanroom floor until they can explain the import of signin' and datin' all entries" or "I"ll have no more of this insubordination for datin' documents. Mr. Franklin, see these scallywags walk the plank"), dressed in swashbuckling clothing, carrying cutlasses, and doing their jobs - but doing it in a way that makes how they do it as interesting as what the do.

Is a little creativity too much to ask?