Why not being an expert is a good thing

“A jack of all trades is a master of none.“

Since my school days, I had heard and believed this cliche. It motivated me to master something rather than develop knowledge in different areas. Only recently did I realize that there is a second part to the saying. The complete version is:

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

Wow! World as I know it changed with these parentheses. The way I see my work, my philosophy of life, my grit and perseverance—everything was built around this idea. All these sprouted from a belief that to succeed, I have to be the foremost expert in some field. It was fertilized by the first part, the only part that I thought there is, of this saying. 

However, because of my varied interests, I became a Jack of many trades, and the problem of mastering nothing haunted me. But the idea of Jack being better than the master was a revelation.

Jack the innovator

Last week I read ‘Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World’. It was an eye-opener. After that, I embarked on a quest to know the Jack inside me more. My greatest weakness, I realized, is actually my greatest strength.

David Epstein, the author of Range, argues that a person with a wide range of skills is better than someone with a narrow but deep skillset. He draws from examples of polymaths like Darwin, Van Gough, Da Vinci, and like.

It rings true. Every day we meet many people with expertise in their respective fields. They are good at repeating patterns they have mastered for years. They even make a difficult job look easy. However, very few bring about a paradigm shift in their field. 

Praises for Jack

Though the idea has been around for a while, our generation focused on knowing too much about too little turned a deaf ear to it. In 1991, David Guest defined it as a T-shaped skillset: broad skills in many fields represented by the horizontal line of T, and specialized skills by the vertical line.

In his book, ‘Originals‘, Adam Grant dares to conduct a study on scientists. To study those who believe that they are the authority on conducting studies may sound paradoxical. Anyway, Grant found out that scientists who pursued some other trade—arts like sculpting, painting, or poetry, for example—have a better chance of winning the Nobel prize.

Maybe it has to do with our mysterious brains. According to neuroscience, engaging in any new activity creates neural connections in the brain. Maybe the new connections open the door for a clearer thinking process. 

Path to becoming a Jack

If you have been in a profession for long, it is hard to conceive the idea of diversifying your skill set. But maybe one magical word will spur you to embrace the concept: layoff.

In this uncertain job climate, it is good to become a Jack who is fit for several roles. 

First, try something that you have not tried until now. Revisit your old interests. Maybe it will ignite something in you. Even if not, the effort spend on diversifying will surely reap benefits.

Building a breadth of knowledge might be a good idea. Take some time to know about different fields. You can start by going through articles on topics you don’t normally read. 

If you already have a skill, try to polish it. Restart the practice that you abandoned halfway. Try to research and learn more about the field.

Finally, keep an open mind to new ideas. Welcome the opinions that challenge our beliefs. Thus we can widen our perspectives and be better than the master of one.

Thank you for reading. Please share your thoughts below.