Being a generalist in a specialization obsessed world | Range by David Epstein
Book-2 | Lesson-2
“The challenge we all face is how to maintain the benefits of breadth, diverse experience, interdisciplinary thinking, and delayed concentration in a world that increasingly incentivizes, even demands, hyper-specialization.”
“Even now, even in endeavors that engender specialization unprecedented in history, there are beacons of breadth. Individuals who live by historian Arnold Toynbee’s words that ‘no tool is omnicompetent. There is no such thing as a master-key that will unlock all doors.’ Rather than wielding a single tool, they have managed to collect and protect an entire toolshed, and they show the power of range in a hyper-specialized world.“
“At some point or other, we all specialize to one degree or another, so the rush to get there can seem logical. Fortunately, there are pioneers who are working to balance the cult of a head start. They want to have it all—the mental meandering along with the wisdom of deep experience; the broad conceptual skills that make use of Flynn’s scientific spectacles even within training programs for specialists; and the creative power of interdisciplinary cross-fertilization. The future of discovery, they argue, depends on it.”
The world demands specialty and is catered to train for specific ‘jobs’ - a tactic that does not build leaders. Creators and leaders need to have a range - even if that range is within a specific segment.
Enabling generalists to thrive and be acceptable in the professional space can create new innovations and open new combinations of possibilities.
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