We live in a world that celebrates the specialist and young stars who attain mastery. But is that really the best way to go through life? Is deep specialization the only way to win and contribute to the world?
I’ve been thinking about this for years. I’ve grown up more of a generalist, playing lots of sports, instruments, learning across a range of disciplines. Being homeschooled until 10th grade helped with that, I could pick up and learn different things a lot easier than my classroom-bound friends.
But in my career I started to doubt if I had been going about learning and development all wrong. Many times I seemed to be passed by people who knew a lot about one thing instead of a little about many things.
I saw this trend in the content I created for years – writing or podcasting about many things didn’t have the same success as other people who concentrated one specific topic.
The case for developing range
I had this in mind as I started to read Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. To me, range did not seem to be paying off. Was I missing something in my pursuit of diversity of thought and experience?
In the book, David Epstein produces a wealth of research that range does indeed matter in a rapidly changing “unkind” world. But with a twist. There are two important aspects of cultivating a range of thoughts and skills.
First is how we develop the ability to make connections across diverse skill sets and disciplines. This is absolutely crucial. For example, how people learn to apply lessons in music to science (and vice versa) is a strong indicator of there level of success and problem-solving.
The second and perhaps most important finding is that finding a career or calling to truly apply yourself to. This doesn’t need to be rushed, but comes after pursuing and testing a wide range of other disciplines to see what stands out. Then you can use the skills of learning, connection, and critical thinking to make new breakthroughs in the field you’ve chosen.
Even when you discover the calling that best combines your experience, skills, and interest – keep developing range! Epstein noted that many award-winning scientists and doctors maintained hobbies in music, writing, sport, and much more. They developed their minds and bodies outside of the primary career domain.
Identifying matches to skill & interest
As you’re testing and developing skills in different fields, don’t be frustrated by a lack of progress or a bad fit. This is your own version of Thomas Edison’s “10,000 ways the light bulb didn’t work”. Discovering what didn’t work is one step closer to discovering what will, and you have gained important insight and skills in a complementary field.
I can see this in my own YouTube videos. I published over 60 videos before the first one went over 1,000 views. I knew I could concentrate on journaling and planning because it was something I was interested in, had talent for, and it resonated with others.
The reason I think the channel and newsletter have done well since then is because of the range of experiences and content types I worked on for the years leading up to that 2018 planning video “blowing up”.
How to use journaling to cultivate and connect your experiences
You can use the following prompts to identify where you have developed range in different fields and disciplines. Continue to regularly ask these questions to cultivate more diverse ideas and applications in life.
- What was an early job I had outside of my current career and what skills did I learn and still implement?
- Which books do I read that help me think of solutions to problems in a different field? What I learn(ed) about in sports helps me in strategy, goal setting, and leadership.
- How do interests I had as a child help me see the world in a unique light?
- What kind of interesting hobby could I pick up that is different from the type of work I do now? For example I work online all day, so I learned how to cook. My brother started woodworking.
- Is there a person you could connect with that can help you speed up your knowledge while providing useful mentoring?
I hope you’re able to take these lessons and journaling on your own experiences and interests to discover and cultivate more range in your life and work. If you want, send me a quick email about how cultivating range has proven useful in your own life!
Have a great week,
Matt
Photo by Dolo Iglesias on Unsplash