I’ve long believed in the power of generalisation. That being: looking to collect a mix of disparate skills that you can knit together in a unique combination. The opposite of this would be specialisation - the idea that you should focus on one field and become world-class at that focusing all your energy and effort on it.
The old wisdom is to focus on specialisation. At least for the two generations before mine, the loyalty, hard work and perseverance in one particular field/career paid off. It was the right advice for the time, because it meant you had unassailable economic value that gave you the stability that we all desire.
I think that the times have changed, for the following reasons:
The pace of change in our world today has increased exponentially. A significant proportion of the careers today didn’t even exist 20 years ago. What will the world look like in 2040? Your guess is as good as mine.
Information has been democratised by the internet. The knowledge that was once hidden behind bricks, mortar and paywalls is now open to anyone with the curiosity and resourcefulness to find it. You can’t rely on a canon that you can acquire and use for leverage against other people.
The nature of work is changing. Technological advancements combined with a psychological change in how we view our careers means that our old assumptions need to be thrown out of the window. Millennials seem to get bored after 2 years in the same position and will kick up a fuss until they find some novelty again.
Artificial intelligence continues to march forward, day after day, and threatens to automate routine processes, tasks and eventually jobs.
All of these changes, I think, are sufficient for the wisdom to change from a call for generalisation rather than specialisation. When you are a generalist, you focus on meta-skills that are agile enough to give you the chance to contribute value in a range of different potential fields. Yes, you might possess the same level of expertise as a specialist would, but you complement that drawback with your use of the internet and other information sources. You are a cyborg, combining your higher-value meta-skills with the infinite resources of the internet and its various communities.
The generalist’s ability to creatively combine seemingly unrelated skills and draw new parallels between them gives a unique perspective that is supremely valuable in a world where innovation and growth is paramount. I love this quote:
“The jack of one trade is the connector of none.” - Eric Weinstein
I’ve constructed my entire life philosophy around this idea and so I’ve got skin in the game on this point. It’s a hill I’m prepared to die on.
One key risk that I see though, and one that still gets me very often, is the tendency to try and do too many things at once when in this mindset. I’m very good at having a bunch of different projects going on, and chasing the shiny object that is the new one. This is easy to rationalise when you tell yourself that you are a generalist. But it often is just a ruse, covering up your ineffectiveness.
Just because you want to have 4 or 5 different careers during your lifetime, it doesn’t mean you have to do them all at the same time. In fact, you shouldn’t. The hard work of staying focused on one for extended periods of time and finishing what you start is crucial. For those who did high school science, you want to work on projects in series, rather than in parallel - wherever possible.
I see the irony of course, ‘this is a form of specialisation’ you yell! I hear you. But what I’m trying to say is that as you acquire a range of skills - understand that certain ‘seasons’ of your life will call for committed time and effort that means sacrificing some of those other paths for a little bit. Don’t trick yourself out of the grind-work by switching to a newer, more enthusiastic pursuit. The balance of which is the whole game that we call life. Prioritisation is everything when you’re trying to live like this.
I’m terrible at this, but I’m trying to get better.
So this is advice for me and, maybe, for you as well.
New Podcast: From Hamilton to TikTok
On this episode of the podcast we discuss TikTok’s rise and its surrounding controversy, Cyril’s scolding, the return of loadshedding, the musical phenomenon ‘Hamilton’, creative insecurity and the demons that we all carry around that no-one else knows about. It’s a goodie, we hope you’ll enjoy!
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Links:
One of my favourite composers Max Richter recently released one of the first singles from his new upcoming album and I found it absolutely hypnotic. He has this way of emoting so powerfully with minimal complexity in his compositions. Check it out.
Tyler Cowen at it again with another wonderful interview. I love the way this man’s brain works.
I joined the Johannesburg Symphony Choir earlier this year and unfortunately all of our live performances for the rest of the year were cancelled (for obvious reasons). But some of the choir came together to record a virtual version of Johnny Clegg’s ‘Osiyeza’ in honour of his death one year ago. It came out much better than I expected! See if you can spot me…
I finally finished Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ and gave it a 5/5 rating. It’s a masterpiece. I posted a very brief review on my Goodreads and have a few related blog posts in the works - so watch this space.
That’s it for now. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead. Be kind to yourself!
Barry