Dabbling in a lot, and don't dabble for very long. Is that it?
To say someone is a jack of all trades I've heard it as an insult, and as a compliment as well. It is surprising to me that people would consider it negatively in the first place. However as I have said countless times "we live in a specialist society". The real funny part is that it was only specialist for the past 100 years or so since the industrial revolution.
Before that people generally needed to know a lot of skills, whether it was because you were a farmer, or you were a banker who also needed to know how to sew the holes in your suit. Although I bet people just paid others to sew them, but you get what I mean.
You have to be able to market yourself!
Whether it was a small skill, or perhaps a hobby (if people had time), there was always something more you did other than "your job". Past the 2nd world war and there was a lot of specializing going on with the rise of the technology of computation and space.
Even still if you couldn't market yourself, public speak, or create some sort of content (like a science paper or book); Then you were shit out of luck. Think Nikola Tesla for example, someone who excelled in many areas, and was by no means simply a jack of all trades. However he failed to defend his works (he did try), and wasn't able to share his knowledge. In fact he actively avoided letting anyone in after Edison stole his work.
I digress.
Dustin Miller | PolyInnovator
Why being a Jack of All Trades is a GOOD thing.
Being a jack of all trades isn't a bad thing, it is just a matter of fact when you start pursuing many areas. They could be on top of your specialties, or even before you have fully mastered something. The problem isn't with the WIDTH of knowledge, it is how well you manage your time. If you keep pursuing a width of areas effectively then you become someone of value to society, as a transcontextual thinker. You become the next great innovator.
However many fail, less so in the modern era of learning, but where they fail is keeping everything in sync. Having plans, strategizing, and executing on what they learn.
Hence the concept of "jack of all trades master of none...". Where people think that if you spread out that you become "thin".
That is only true if you fail, or fail to try to go deep.
Other people's mindsets, especially coming from the specialist world, it lingers on the "master of none" part. Which to be frank isn't necessarily true, as we can see with the T-Shape person for example (having one area of specialty and a jack of all trades width).
Going deeper, we can see that people have hobbies, previous trades, and even in the future more than likely having ANOTHER career after their current one too.
Many people succeed at going deep and they don't even know it. Take the worker who held various roles from entry level to high up in the chain for a company. Many jobs/roles leading to numerous new skills (and knowledge areas).
Or another example is the hobbyist, who sees their skill area as a means of entertainment or fulfillment, outside of the income or employment space.
Who is to say one's hobby isn't deep enough level of knowledge to pursue as a job if they so choose? Many people wouldn't know from my content creation that I do spriting and mapping as a hobby. Quite high skill level I may add too, but you don't see me vying for game development jobs or using it as a means to gain followers.
Just simply a hobby, at least for now that I do from time to time.
Finally, let's get to the thick of it.... Jack of All Trades doesn't mean you know everything about everything, although to some people it may seem that way. When you know a lot about a lot of things it can help in so many ways.
It just means that you spread yourself to often 4-7 areas of knowledge, maybe even just 3-4 (more ideal), but you haven't decided on which to pursue deeper. This is what the author David Epstein writes about in "Range".
Dustin Miller | PolyInnovator
It is more like a funnel, where it is wide at the beginning. Giving time for the learner to experiment, and try many things. Then the person will focus on one to a great degree, then eventually spread out again from there. Taking upon an hourglass shape in specialties, which I presume is where the idea of the T-Shaped person comes from (usually used in the context of digital marketing).
It is simply a person who hasn't yet spread out from where they were specializing in. Ironically Digital marketing is an area where generalists reign supreme, and most "digital marketing specialist" jobs are inaccurately labeled. When they should be "digital marketing generalist" given all of the things they are expected to know.
"Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes Better than a master of one."
If you want to keep reading:
Dustin Miller | PolyInnovator
Previous Shorter Version
This was one of my "social articles", an experiment to create medium sized blog posts, akin to newsletters. Across a variety of social blogging networking platforms. Such as Medium, Vocal Media, and Linkedin. Since it didn't quite land; I decided to take these posts and remake them into more full length creations.
Dustin Miller - PolyInnovator
