“Jack of all trades…”

. . . . and master of none” has been a phrase that has bugged me throughout my career.

In a world where so much of the advice is to “find your niche”, “identify your specialism” or however it’s phrased, I’ve felt something of a failure.  Yet, being a specialist has never sat comfortably with me – as if the idea just doesn’t fit with how God’s made me.

So, imagine my delight at reading this book, “Range” by David Epstein (thanks for the recommendation @David Savage).  “How generalists triumph in a specialised world.”

Based on extensive research into high performers in a wide variety of fields, he challenges the conventional wisdom that highly successful people found their “thing” early and focussed uniquely on that.  Those were in the minority.  More often, they tried a wide variety of things before finding their “one thing”, if they ever did.  And many kept “adjusting course” as their career evolved.

He also highlights the dangers of extreme specialisation, of specialists unable to see their work in context.  A recent client project has highlighted how this can lead to tension between teams that should collaborate and subsequent poor performance.  Not to say that they aren’t needed, more that there is a need for them to recognise that limitation and for there to be others who can see how all the elements fit together and facilitate collaboration.

I think I’ve always known I’m one of the latter, and my academic choices and career path have reflected that.  Finally, this book has provided the evidence I need to feel fully affirmed in my calling – to help organisations take a “whole system” view of their performance and see which “bits of the puzzle” might be missing and preventing them from fulfilling their purpose effectively.

I think it’s also telling that the full version of the quote is, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”