The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades 199 Comments

Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: Filling the Void

ford_assembly_line_-_1913.jpg
Specialization isn’t always a good thing.

Are the days of Da Vinci dead? Is it possible to, at once, be a world-class painter, engineer, scientist, and more?

“No way. Those times are long gone. Nothing was discovered then. Now the best you can do is pick your field and master it.”

The devout specialist is fond of labeling the impetuous learner–Da Vinci and Ben Franklin being just two forgotten examples–”jack of all trades, master of none.” The chorus unites: In the modern world, it is he who specializes who survives and thrives. There is no place for Renaissance men or women. Starry-eyed amateurs.

Is it true? I don’t think so. Here are the top five reasons why being a “jack of all trades,” what I prefer to call a “generalist,” is making a comeback:

5) “Jack of all trades, master of none” is an artificial pairing.

It is entirely possible to be a jack of all trades, master of many. How? Specialists overestimate the time needed to “master” a skill and confuse “master” with “perfect”…

Generalists recognize that the 80/20 principle applies to skills: 20% of a language’s vocabulary will enable you to communicate and understand at least 80%, 20% of a dance like tango (lead and footwork) separates the novice from the pro, 20% of the moves in a sport account for 80% of the scoring, etc. Is this settling for mediocre?

Not at all. Generalists take the condensed study up to, but not beyond, the point of rapidly diminishing returns. There is perhaps a 5% comprehension difference between the focused generalist who studies Japanese systematically for 2 years vs. the specialist who studies Japanese for 10 with the lack of urgency typical of those who claim that something “takes a lifetime to learn.” Hogwash. Based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year.

4) In a world of dogmatic specialists, it’s the generalist who ends up running the show.

Is the CEO a better accountant than the CPA? Is Steve Jobs a better programmer than the iTunes VP of Engineering? No, but he has a broad range of skills and sees the unseen interconnectedness. As technology becomes a commodity with the democratization of information, it’s the big-picture generalists who will predict, innovate, and rise to power fastest. There is a reason military “generals” are called such.

3) Boredom is failure.

In a first-world economy where we have the physical necessities covered with even low-class income, Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs drives us to need more for any measure of comparative “success.” Lack of intellectual stimulation, not superlative material wealth, is what drives us to depression and emotional bankruptcy. Generalizing and experimenting prevents this, while over-specialization guarantees it.

2) Diversity of intellectual playgrounds breeds confidence instead of fear of the unknown.

It also breeds empathy with the broadest range of human conditions and appreciation of the broadest range of human accomplishments. The alternative is the defensive xenophobia and smugness uniquely common to those whose identities are defined by their job title or single skill, which they pursue out of obligation and not enjoyment.

1) It’s more fun, in the most serious existential sense.

The jack of all trades maximizes his number of peak experiences in life and learns to enjoy the pursuit of excellence unrelated to material gain, all while finding the few things he is truly uniquely suited to dominate.

The specialist who imprisons himself in self-inflicted one-dimensionality — pursuing and impossible perfection — spends decades stagnant or making imperceptible incremental improvements while the curious generalist consistently measures improvement in quantum leaps. It is only the latter who enjoys the process of pursuing excellence.

—

Don’t put on experiential blinders in the name of specializing. It’s both unnecessary and crippling. Those who label you a “jack of all trades, master of none” are seldom satisfied with themselves.

Why take their advice?

Here is a description of the incredible Alfred Lee Loomis, a generalist of the highest order who changed the course of World War II with his private science experiments, here taken from the incredible portrait of his life, Tuxedo Park:

Loomis did not conform to the conventional measure of a great scientist. He was too complex to categorize — financier, philanthropist, society figure, physicist, inventor, amateur, dilettante — a contradiction in terms.

Be too complex to categorize.

Look far and wide.  There are worlds to conquer.

###


Posted on September 14th, 2007

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199 Responses to “The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades”

  • stiff
    September 14th, 2007
    3:41 am

    There is a thread on Metafilter that may be of use on the path to master something new:

    http://ask.metafilter.com/71101/What-single-book-is-the-best-introduction-to-your-field-or-specialization-within-your-field-for-laypeople

  • G
    September 14th, 2007
    5:21 am

    Allegedly the Jack of all trades saying is always taken out of context. The full saying is apparently:

    Jack of all trades, master of none, though oft times better than master of one!

  • Paul
    September 14th, 2007
    6:01 am

    Thank you for the full feeds!

  • Justin Davey
    September 14th, 2007
    6:39 am

    Broad ranging interests and knowledge are the keys to innovation. There was an article in the New York Times a while back that talked about the home libraries of some of the world’s biggest CEOs. Steve Jobs was one of the profiles. What were they reading? Try classics. Steve Jobs doesn’t read all of the management and programming stuff you think he does. He reads stuff about life and effective principles for living. Learning “fundamental truths” and applying them to your business will help you succeed. The broader the range of skills and knowledge, the more interconnectedness of ideas, the more innovation, the more success!

  • Don Q
    September 14th, 2007
    7:23 am

    Excellent post.

    After hearing the “…master of none” retort from unctous specialists far too often it is refreshing to hear you champion the cause of jacks of all trades.

    Here is one retention tip, a variant of the 80/20 principle, that works well when having to consume large pieces of information:

    Take any string of information; a set of numbers; a lecture; a book; a skill; and invariably one finds that the average person retains the first and last pieces of information most.

    Try it on 3 friends:

    Read off the following string of numbers quickly and ask the listener to repeat back as many numbers as he or she remembers hearing: 79683841762438173 (obviously, any long string will do).

    The vast majority of people are most likely to remember the first three digits and the last three digits, forgetting most of the ones in between.

    Simple solution: Break any string of new information into many smaller bits to maximize “beginnings” and “endings.”

  • Tom
    September 14th, 2007
    7:26 am

    Tim, you’re quite Panasonic (slightly ahead of your time) :)
    Great words, great advice !!

  • Graham Lutz, The Young Capitalist
    September 14th, 2007
    7:39 am

    Tim, great post! Yet ANOTHER reason not to go to college. If you ask me, college gets in the way of education. With the amout of information available at the click of a button, we don’t need to pay $60,000 or more to go to a university. I’ve learned more on my own since I fired my teachers than I had in all the years prior!

  • Garry Hall
    September 14th, 2007
    7:54 am

    Tim

    I enjoy your blog and as an”old guy” it’s never too late to learn. Great post and the quote:

    “Be too complex to categorize”

    resonates.

    PS While it’s difficult for a senior Naval officer to work only 4 hours a week, I sure have been able to incorporate many of your techniques and recommendations into my life. Thanks.

  • King Tubby
    September 14th, 2007
    8:17 am

    I don’t think you can learn a skill that requires muscle memory and be world class within one year. Specifically I am thinking of playing a musical instrument.

  • Jeremiah Reid
    September 14th, 2007
    8:18 am

    Being a jack of all trades has always scared me. I have so many varying ideas and so many unrelated hobbies that I often think something is wrong with me. But at the same time, the thought of doing one thing for the rest of my life is terrifying. It’s relieving to know that it can be a strength.

    You’re absolutely right that it’s the generalists who run the show. A memorable quote from the “Millionaire Mind” says that the reason incredibly smart and highly talented people often stay relatively unsuccessful is that they “know more and more about less and less.” It’s one of those things I’m trying to come to terms with: getting amazingly good at one thing won’t guarantee me outstanding success or fulfillment.

  • Derek
    September 14th, 2007
    8:35 am

    Breaking long strings of information into smaller pieces is called ‘chunking’ and is very common. Look at your phone number or credit card.

  • Link of the Day « Flying Solo
    September 14th, 2007
    8:38 am

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  • Jacki Hollywood Brown
    September 14th, 2007
    8:38 am

    Hello, I would like to introduce myself. I’m a professional organizer. My name is Jacki of All Trades.
    I can hang a shelf, write a set of standard operating procedures, re-arrange your childrens’ toys, build a peg board from scratch, manage your household hazardous waste and recycling and translate it all from English to French and back again.
    I don’t think ONE DARN THING I learned about this business came from sitting on my behind in a lecture theatre. The only thing that my M.Sc. taught me was that I was perfectly capable of learning what I wanted to learn and from whom to learn it. Which I am sure that I could have figured out without spending $$$$ and many, many months.

  • Clyde Williams
    September 14th, 2007
    8:46 am

    What do you do when you know a lot of things well enough to work in them, but have no certifications, and not enough experience (the 2-5 yrs required) so that an employer will look at you? Do you have to rely on sweettalk and boundless self-promotion? Not trolling, I really want to know (I’ve read the book).

  • Jed Wood
    September 14th, 2007
    8:49 am

    Actually, I rather enjoyed my post-high school education, mostly because I took a less common approach of switching majors several times and ultimately going “trackless” during grad school. I experienced both broad and deep exposure to business, design, music, psychology, biology, religion, math — a true “univers”ity education. Learning from a wide range of brilliant specialists is an effective path to becoming a well-rounded generalist.

    This is of course separate from the individual choice each person should make with regards to financial return on investment, and I realize many people have college experiences drastically different than mine. :)

  • Eclectic person facing a Specializing world - Personal Development for Smart People Forums
    September 14th, 2007
    8:57 am

    [...] is so weird. Tim Ferris just released a blog post that deals with this exact problem. Enjoy: » The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades __________________ Want to know what the ideal diet is? Me too… I’m an Omnivore: A [...]

  • Ryan Anderson
    September 14th, 2007
    8:59 am

    I couldn’t agree more. I consider myself very well-rounded, and I find it frustrating to talk to people who have only studied, lived and experienced a one-track profession. The law, finance and engineering students I went to school with were extremely frustrating to talk to, simply because they only saw the world in one way, and it was better than yours. I was lucky enough to go to a university that offered “interdisciplinary studies,” and allowed me to study through multiple schools toward one goal.

    To the commenters who have come before me, though… I completely disagree with the notion that higher learning is a waste of time. Not everyone needs a PhD., or even a degree, but well-rounded learning that actually makes you think, exposes you to ideas you wouldn’t be exposed to, and ways of looking at the world are never a waste of time. The list of things that I actually learned in university is fairly short (but includes the social history of the dildo) but it was that experience that broadened my horizons and ability to learn so that I could master things on my own.

    I’d love to hear Tim’s thoughts on the role of higher education.

  • Diego Alban
    September 14th, 2007
    9:02 am

    There was a recent article from an economic institute that overlapped with this great post from Tim. It mentioned Micah Stanley – 19 years old, college graduate and lawyer (http://micahstanley.com/). I think the conclusion was that there would be a lot more genius if gov’t schooling never existed. Gov’t bureaucrats don’t seem to have the same incentives as caring parents when it comes to education and success.

    “A teenage lawyer/budding author, however, wouldn’t surprise John Taylor Gatto, an outspoken critic of compulsory education laws and a former New York State Teacher of the Year. Writing in Harper’s Magazine, Gatto forthrightly argued that ‘genius is as common as dirt.’”

    http://www.mises.org/story/2682

  • Graham Lutz, The Young Capitalist
    September 14th, 2007
    9:08 am

    but well-rounded learning that actually makes you think, exposes you to ideas you wouldn’t be exposed to, and ways of looking at the world are never a waste of time

    Ryan – I agree that it is not a waste of time, but I do believe that it is a waste of money becuase it such learning can happen without spending thousands of dollars.

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  • ERB Tech » Blog Archive » the Jack of All Trades is better than The Specialist
    September 14th, 2007
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    [...] Yesterday I was discussing with someone the “Jack of All Trades” versus “The Specialist” argument. Then today, Timothy Ferris posted his article The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades. [...]

  • Hunter Nuttall
    September 14th, 2007
    9:50 am

    “Be too complex to categorize.” Gotta love it. I’d much rather be a Thomas Jefferson or an Isaac Newton than a [insert any job title here]. Here’s my favorite quote on this topic:

    “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

    -Robert A. Heinlein

  • Matt Dierksheide
    September 14th, 2007
    10:10 am

    Thank you for the validation!

    No matter how much I’ve wanted to become an ‘expert’ in any number of fields, I still find myself jumping into different projects and coming away with knowing a little something about a lot of things.

    This certainly makes for a rich life . . . .

  • Jacki Hollywood Brown
    September 14th, 2007
    10:58 am

    I agree that post-secondary education is NOT a waste of time. It is only a waste if that person believes that post-secondary education is the ONLY education worth getting.

    I was exposed to SO much while at university that I would not have been exposed to otherwise (and for that, I will always be grateful). However, I certainly learned as much from staying sober on the weekends as I did from advanced calculus and I definitely REMEMBER my weekends which is more than I can say of advanced calculus :)

  • Jeremy James
    September 14th, 2007
    11:03 am

    Tim,

    I really enjoyed your book, and I applaud your enthusiasm for living life. But what’s up with:

    “Based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year.[?]”

    Is there a special definition of “world-class” I’m missing out on?

    Although I agree with your premise that generalists get a bad rap these days, making a statement like that is just as bad, because it is an insult to people who truly are at a world-class level in their discipline. Take any pro athlete for example: Not one of them got to their level of play in just one year–not only that–but not all *pro* athletes are even considered “world-class.”

    By the way, I do agree with you that a world-class talent can still be a generalist. However, it’s exceedingly rare to find someone at the very *top* of more than one discipline. More commonly you find a top-performer in one field who happens to be “pretty darn good” in another field–competent–but not “world-class.”

    Not trying to start a flame war, but some clarification would be appreciated. Thanks, and keep up the interesting posts.

  • Another Tim
    September 14th, 2007
    11:15 am

    Ryan … good thoughts. I agree 100%

    And Tim – you hit the nail on the head and have caused a lot of my stagnant brain juice to stir around up in that unused area.

    I get discouraged when people classify me because of my degree or ‘job’ … if I am an engineer I can’t be creative – if I am a great salesman I can’t be good at technology – if I am a good inventor then I can’t be very good with ‘people skills – … and the list goes on.

    What is this? … “the law of conservation of talent”?
    I don’t believe in it!

    This type of thinking is deeply rooted in almost everyone you meet – that you automatically are ‘watered down’ in every other area if you have more than one talent.
    b-sh*#T

    Tim – Thanks for reinforing a new way of thinking that goes against the grain.

  • Moments of Clarity
    September 14th, 2007
    11:28 am

    Validation for my Struggle…

    Wow. If you’re a PhD in a subset of some science field, click away now. Tim Ferriss, best selling author and life coach has posted a blog called, The Top 5 Reasons To Be A Jack Of All Trades This…

  • Jonathan Franzone
    September 14th, 2007
    11:29 am

    I believe that it is entirely possible to be both a specialist and a jack of all trades. I am a software engineer and have developed software in many different platforms and environments. In this sense I could be considered a jack of all trades… whatever the situation I can adapt and get the job done. However, I also have a few areas that I feel I am somewhat specialized in. In those areas I will always be more comfortable and productive and I always strive to push the boundaries of that knowledge and skillset.

  • Jeremy
    September 14th, 2007
    11:39 am

    Tim,

    This is your best post so far, and really would make an excellent addition to The 4-Hour Workweek (even though you obviously go over these points in the book)

    This was really a moving post, to be honest, and makes me want to strive for so much more out of life.

    Thank you.

  • Jake
    September 14th, 2007
    11:40 am

    Just as I began learning several subjects at a time in grade school, I continued to study many subjects in the University. Changing my major (5 times) seemed to excite me every time, and make most everyone else start with “what if…(doom)”

    Now out of school, I have had about 13 paid gigs in 4 years. Still enjoying new experiences and “broadening my horizons”. Just left the best paid job yet- salary, benefits, own office, and a window. It wasn’t stressful, it just bored the hell out of me. I’m done with my cell (aka-office).

    “The more bridges you build, the more options you have when the weather changes.”

    -Jake Peters

  • Victory Darwin
    September 14th, 2007
    12:25 pm

    WIKTIONARY:
    higher education (uncountable)
    1. University education or higher.
    2. Continued education after the point at which attendance of an educational institution is no longer compulsory.

    Isn’t the exploring we do online, or a marketing program from a guru like Mark Joyner, Rich Schefren, Eben Pagan, or Dan Kennedy even higher than that?

    This post is really empowering for me and for my students/clients. I always hated that “jack of all trades” expression!

    DOWN WITH THE “FORMAL HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM”!
    Let the University of Phoenix burn!
    ~V.

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  • Matt
    September 14th, 2007
    12:28 pm

    I agree. Although some colleges merely relay narrow occupational knowledge, my college “education” in particular developed me to my best potential in a very broad sense. By “education” I mean not only the courses I took but the work experiences I had on breaks and the relationships I formed and learned from while a student.

    For example, I began college as an economics major yet also studied math, journalism, Latin, constitutional law, literature, pop culture, film, and classical history. My first job out of college was as a webmaster although I have never taken an information systems course in my life.

    If you choose a college that not only lets you but encourages you to explore other disciplines (or perhaps even design your own program with faculty help), the rewards are immeasurable. This article affirms rather than condemns the merits of a well-rounded multidiscplinary education.

  • MsJ777
    September 14th, 2007
    12:46 pm

    Preach it, brothah! I have always remembered an incident that happened to me in grade school; a teacher asked the class if we’d rather do one thing perfectly or many things really well. I was the only kid who raised their hand for the latter, because being stuck doing only ONE THING seemed inconceivably boring to me.

    I will have to disagree with the people eschewing going to school–in the past 7 years I’ve taken all manner of courses in various forms of art, dance, organic gardening, alternative building methods, aromatherapy, etc. in addition to all of the English, Philosopy, Anthropology, Biology and the like I’ve been accumulating toward an eventual degree.

    Honestly I’ve found something from each core requirement class that manages to apply to and enrich my life experiences, as well as increasing my flexibilty and ever expanding “comfort zone”, so perhaps I’m in the minority here.

    Don’t get me wrong–I too believe that there is no substitute for experience, but the vast majority of worthwhile experiences involve some degree of learning beforehand in preparation. I like to say I collect skills like other people collect stamps, and I have been accused of being a professional student. Consider me that as well as an artist/sculptor, realtor/bellydance instructor, wannabe permaculturist and alternative builder, among all of my other “weird” Jane-of-all-trades skills. Sign me up for the next class, as well as the next adventure!

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  • Louis
    September 14th, 2007
    1:37 pm

    In addition to Generals in the army there are also Specialists who are the highest ranking lower enlisted soldiers. There’s a huge difference in rank between those.

    This post also adds to the question on whether an entrepreneur should pursue a niche or a market. Perhaps all the marketers sell people on going after niches so they won’t have to compete with them. Do as they say… not as they do kind of thing.

    Learning lots of different things makes you a more interesting person too. In turn you can relate to more people and accomplish more through those relationships.

  • Jose Castro_Frenzel
    September 14th, 2007
    1:38 pm

    Tim,

    I would have to agree. This subject can be seen in so many lights, but I would argue that it is more exciting and memorable to do different things. I own my concrete co., trade stocks online, just started a t-shirt company, and am leaving Texas to move to NYC. Doing a variety of things allows me to expand my mental capacity while at the same time spreading risk over several different ventures. Kind of like mutual funds in a 401K. In any and all industries you have ups and downs. Some of the most diverse and exciting companies do this. Virgin, Google, and even Hulk Hogan have done this.
    It is like you said finding your muse, rather finding your MUSES.
    Moreover, I have noticed that you see this more with individuals whom have traveled. There is a direct correlation with travel and diversity in one’s life. The action of seeing and experiencing multiple events keeps one’s mind moving.
    Have an Outstanding Day,

    Jose

  • Caline
    September 14th, 2007
    1:39 pm

    Tim,

    “Be too complex to categorize” – that is now my new motto! Actually I think it has always been my motto – I just never knew it.

    I cannot wait to find out what your idea is to revolutionize education. I have always been fascinated by education and learning, but have always felt that the school systems in this country are inadequate in terms of providing truly practical and useful information for living in this world. In fact, it has always been a dream of mine to start a new type of school or educational system that allows students to learn about real life and living – on a global level.

    I will be emailing Amy the details of my contribution to Amy – I hope you will find it as useful of a contribution as I believe it is!

  • Travis Tolman
    September 14th, 2007
    1:49 pm

    Hey Tim,

    Thanks for another great post!

    “Be too complex to categorize.” I love it!

    There is another great quote from Dan Kennedy I love…
    He talked about how many Entrepreneurs are guilty of committing “Industry Incest” (I can’t remember the exact term) But…

    It’s basically how too many people get so narrow minded and focused that they ONLY associate with people, read books and publications etc. from their own industry.

    It would serve us all to broaden our range and open our minds to new possibilties, ways of doing things and other points of view.

    I’m all about freedom and limitless options. When we focus soley on one area of life we cut off other oportunites and experience for growth.

    At the same time however it is Very important to “stick to our guns” when it comes to making money. spend the most time on what we know we do best and outsource the rest.

    While many commentators are talking about higher education I’ll throw in my 2 cents…

    Education is KEY for any level of success in anything. Period. How you go about that education just depends on what you really want. (I’d never go to a Dr. who didn’t finish school) Yet most Entrepreneurs I know don’t attribute their success to what they learned in school. Although I’d have to agree to the benefits like Ryan Anderson mentioned in his comment…

    “but well-rounded learning that actually makes you think, exposes you to ideas you wouldn’t be exposed to, and ways of looking at the world are never a waste of time… but it was that experience that broadened my horizons and ability to learn so that I could master things on my own.”

    May we all continually grow in all aspects of life…

    -Travis Tolman

    P.S. Tim- I’d be interested in learning any more tips on getting great deals on flights. (I don’t know If I’d dare book an important flight 24 hrs before when I’ve got a set appointment I’ve gotta make.)

    Thanks for everything ;)

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  • Aaron Shepard
    September 14th, 2007
    2:28 pm

    You’re not being fully honest, Tim — either that, or you haven’t thought this thing out completely. You’ve given us the advantages of generalization, but what are the disadvantages? Every path in life has both, and we need to recognize both to make wise decisions and aim for proper balance.

    I’m a generalist myself, in the way you describe, but I’ve lived with it long enough to know some of the prices I pay.

    Aaron

  • Steve Weber
    September 14th, 2007
    3:29 pm

    Tim, you said:

    “Based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year.”

    I’m 47 and am interested in learning how to play tennis. Based on your experience, I should reach the Wimbledon finals next year, right?

    ###

    LOL… precisely. Federer’s days are numbered! I’ll be posting a comment to explain “world-class” in a few hours :)

    Tim

  • P Chan
    September 14th, 2007
    3:34 pm

    It’s so refreshing to see a post about this. I’ve considered myself a jack-of-all-trades for a long time. I try to embrace each challenge as a learning experience.

    I do agree with a previous commentator. What ARE some of the disadvantages? When you look at highly paid SAP consultants or neurosurgeons, it’s hard to argue against be specialists. They may have a narrow world view, but I wouldn’t mind having their paycheck. Basically, what I am trying to say is that for the majority of society, it doesn’t pay to be a generalist but it does pay to be a specialist. Having said that, I personally don’t agree with that philosophy which is why I am what I am.

    I do have a belief that people who are specialists are ill suited to be entrepreneurs. They are too limited in their world view and cannot function with the aid of others because they cannot or will not embrace all the other necessary roles that are required when having your own company.

  • The Decision Strategist
    September 14th, 2007
    4:07 pm

    Thank you for this. I’ve always felt that I didn’t have the ‘hacker’ expertise to be involved in programming. This feeling of inadequacy has kept me back for several years.

    Eventually I just decided to go with it regardless, and it turns out that, though I might be slower, I’m not terribly bad and I have some good ideas.

    These are the first reasons I’ve seen for wanting to know some in a lot of different areas instead of all in one area.

  • LearningNerd
    September 14th, 2007
    4:36 pm

    I’ve always considered myself a Jill of all trades. ;) I want to learn everything there is to learn (or die trying).

    My philosophy is that the more you learn about, the more you can appreciate. Career-wise, there are disadvantages of not specializing in something, but there are no disadvantages to learning new things. Period.

  • Jeff Turner
    September 14th, 2007
    5:47 pm

    I love the blog and the book just out of curiosity how much was outsourced? I have started to go down you path and its a freedom I have been missing for to many years. Thanks for all the great information!

    ###

    Hi Jeff!

    I do all of the writing because I enjoy it. I sketched the design/architecture of the blog and then had a Wordpress expert code it for me. My VAs do some of the moderation, and I pop in once in a while to moderate. I like to interact with my readers but can’t always answer every personal question, which is why I’m so happy to have readers who participate and help each other!

    Hope that helps,

    Tim

  • Andrew
    September 14th, 2007
    5:48 pm

    Speaking as a contract-sysadmin/photographer/martial artist/blogger/furniture restorer/husband/chef/consultant/entrepreneur, I couldn’t agree more.

    Life’s too short to be bored why what you do.

    For years, I’ve let myself be guided by this Heinlein quote:

    “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

  • David
    September 14th, 2007
    5:52 pm

    Tim, I’m directing this at you but would love to have everyone else weigh-in as well (..though it might make for an interesting post on it’s own):

    In adopting a completely liberated lifestyle that allows me to simply follow my passions and explore new opportunities, I’ve had one challenge emerge: I quit my job and no longer have the “luxury” of defining myself by my job title. I realize I’m not alone on this. In the US especially, “So what do you do?” is asked far too often, and it’s always been easy to just spew off a flashy “I’m a (job title) at (killer company)..” followed by an inflated one-liner about what that actually means.

    I am decidedly undefined right now and love having no canned answer to that unavoidable conversational question. I’m a traveler, an investor (of time, thought & capital), a serial entrepreneur, designer, etc. The list goes on — and I can truly say I excel in each area. Jack of all trades, master of many. A generalist, as you say.

    At the end of the day, though we all want to be somewhat fluid in our definition of who we are – there is always that moment, in a loud crowded lounge or a 30-second chat with mere acquaintance — where the fully enlightened response just isn’t appropriate.

    In that setting, for those that are truly living the 4HWW — “what do you do?”

    ###

    Hi David,

    Here are four popular choices of the time-liberated:

    -”I’m retired.” Then just let them think on that.
    -”I’m a (travel) writer.” If you write, you’re a writer. Legit answer.
    -”I’m an entrepreneur.” Entrepreneur is further reaching than just income and business creation. It’s just someone who makes things happen.
    -”I’m a consultant/investor.” Both are true of most people on some level.

    Hope that helps!

    Tim

  • Tim Ferriss
    September 14th, 2007
    5:58 pm

    Hi All!

    Thanks for the great comments and contributions to the discussion. I love the Robert Heinlein quote.

    A few clarifications:

    1) “World-class” to me is being the top 1-5% most proficient of all people who practice a certain skill.

    2) I stated you could become world-class in almost any skill, not all. There are some limits on sports (powerlifting, etc.) that require massive physical adaptation of connective tissue, but motor skills can be learned quickly. I had never done ballroom or partner dancing of any type before training 5 months to set the world record in tango and also get to the semi-finals of the world championships, for example.

    3. It IS possible to be both a generalist and a specialist. When I did tango, I did it for 6-8 hours a day. Did I specialize? Yes, but I only did so for a total of about 8 months. Thus, I’m a macro-generalist and a micro-specialist.

    4. There are pros and cons to both being a specialist and being a generalist. This post was just a few reasons on the “pro” side of generalists. I’ll let you guys battle out the rest ;)

    5. I believe education, including formal education, can be extremely valuable. I wouldn’t trade my liberal arts education for the world. There are crappy teachers and good teachers both inside and outside of institutions. The prizes go to those who seek out the best teachers.

    Hope that helps, and keep up the comments!

    Tim

  • The Jack Of All Trades Myth | Lewis Empire
    September 14th, 2007
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    [...] Ferriss’ recent post The Top 5 Reasons To Be a Jack Of All Trades really opened my eyes to the world of business. He targets the idea of being a “Jack of all [...]

  • Anne Brown
    September 14th, 2007
    8:22 pm

    There is a wonderful book that explores this topic in both depth AND breadth – check out “Refuse to Choose!: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love”
    by Barbara Sher (Author). She gives great encouragement and practical strategies to us DaVinci types, allowing us to be released from the “dilettante” label forever!

  • thom singer
    September 14th, 2007
    8:27 pm

    Tim-

    This is obviously this post is powerful noted by the nearly 50 comments in just a few hours.

    I agree that we put too much attention on a single focus in our careers. Having many interests and many skills allows one to adapt to changing circumstances.

    I have worked in many industries, and some people frown on this….trying to discredit the amazing amount of experience a person can get if they work in many fields. I think the more experiences you have (in a career and in life’s journey) the more colorful the tapestry you weave along the way.

    thom

  • Don Q
    September 14th, 2007
    9:44 pm

    Tim,

    You ask about effective education.

    I am a 37 year old father of two who grew up attending about a dozen educational institutions in 9 countries: public schools with the middle class; boarding schools with wealthy expatriates; 1 on 1 tutoring with a blind man; classes of 3 students in the rainforest and sessions of 40 students in suburbia; and later a state school and Harvard.

    Based on my experiences, what did I decide to do for my own children?

    I decided to combine the hard knocks of public schools with the rigors of boarding school. Combine the attention of 1 on 1 tutoring with the social enrichment of large groups. And combine the breadth of state school course offerings with the depth of an Ivy League education.

    I decided to homeschool.

    There are so many reasons not to send your child through conventional schooling that I will not even attempt to list them here (read “The Well-Trained Mind” for the most authoritative book I’ve found on the subject; and the works of John Taylor Gatto). But I will mention two:

    1) Learning is only possible when the motivation comes from the student, not from the teacher; and

    2) Homeschooled children repeatedly outperform their conventionally-trained peers in conventional, standardized tests. Consider Switzerland, a country with the world’s highest per capita income and yet only 23% of the student population attends high school.

    “But what about socialization?” detractors protest.

    One does not merely sit at home. Like the “Four Hour Workweek,” the objective is not simply to work four hours, but rather to free time to variegate one’s range of experience into other areas.

    So my recommendation for the perfect education is the following 4 step program:

    1) KILL YOUR TV: Yes, remove it from the house. Shakespeare will never compete with Bart.

    2) BUY LOTS OF BOOKS: They’ll take care of the rest. We formally “teach” our kids no more than a couple of hours a day and now they’re already a few years ahead of their peers. The wealthy class of centuries past simply bought books and hired home tutors. Does it take a lot of brains to parrot a teacher’s workbook? Nope.

    3) TRAVEL: Not unfamiliar to the great thinkers of ages past, the refinement that comes with international travel is simply not possible sitting in your hometown. There is something magical about experiencing new cultures, exotic languages, breathtaking sights, and intoxicating smells that is simply not possible sitting in your home country. And by travel I don’t mean getting a 3 week Eurail pass. I mean relocating to a new, preferably poor, country. Why poor? Because the poor usually have more to teach.

    4) VENTURE CAPITAL: Starting from an age when your kids can act responsibly with money, usually 5 or 6, give them a hundred bucks and ask them to double it. Then ask them to give it away (intelligently). Sit back and watch them learn more in a couple of weeks than their peers would have learned in a semester.

    These 4 steps don’t require a lot of money and certainly the 4HWW makes it completely possible. Besides, all the money that you previously wasted on school is now spent traveling with the kids.

    Is it replicable? Easily. Is it cost effective? How many billions of dollars are we going to save by converting decrepit school buildings run by the government into community centers run by families?

    By the way, on a completely different note: is it coincidence that your first name stands for “Time, Income, Mobility” and that your family name resembles one “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” who used brains, wit, and technology, to defy convention and authority?

  • Doc D
    September 14th, 2007
    10:36 pm

    Thanks for the affirmation. I often describe myself as Jack of All Trades, Master of Some. So, last week, when I was introduced as a Renaissance Man I felt honored.

  • samiam.com » Blog Archive » Be too complex to categorize.
    September 14th, 2007
    11:22 pm

    [...] The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades Posted in Inspiring | Leave a Comment [...]

  • Sara Stephenson - Donley
    September 15th, 2007
    12:41 am

    I think one of the great things about higher education is the exposure to other people who are in the midst of academic pursuits. There are people who know so much about so many different things at a university, and they are all very accessible. Its an environment where people are striving to learn and grow as opposed to the typical work environment which is generally stagnant, and repetitive, and specialized.
    Im so excited to see some positive reinforcement for the jack of all trades :) That definitely describes me. Its always viewed so negatively, but I really wouldnt be happy if I decided to specialize in one area and continue to do that one thing for the rest of my working life. I can’t choose any one degree program, or decide on the type of business I would like to run, etc. Really I want to be doing at least 5 different things at once.

    You are also much more likely to discover things that you have a natural talent for, if you are always learning and trying new things.

  • i
    September 15th, 2007
    2:28 am

    Tim,

    I think your article is great and couldn’t agree with you more about the benefits of being a generalist. I am curious, though, about your statement that “what I prefer to call a ‘generalist,’; is making a comeback.” Being a generalist is arguably better, but I believe that it’s far from making a comeback. In the last two years, for example, I’ve seen job postings become increasingly specific about candidates’ past experience and expertise, most probably to help recruiters deal with the effects of the increasingly ubiquitous technology that surrounds a previously manual process (resume databases, people mass-blasting applications, etc.). Also, as companies become larger and larger, experience and skillsets are becoming much more one-dimensional with little room to dabble and showcase a range of skills. In what areas have you seen a growth in either appreciation or practice of generalist mentality?

    One other thing (and this is for the peanut gallery, too), what professions have you found to be particularly well suited to generalists?

    Thanks!

    -i

  • Peter
    September 15th, 2007
    6:31 am

    David,

    I just say I`m a writer and leave it at that. If asked again I say I write and sell my work online.

    The last thing I want to do is impress strangers with my work or lifestyle because when you retire “too young” it really annoys a lot of people or gets the the other reaction – I want to be you best friend because you are successful. Neither of those responses does anything for me.

    Over time, you end up hanging around with other people in the same boat – my best friend works very little, takes the summer off etc. You can go nuts if you don`t find some like minded people to hang around with.

  • ernst
    September 15th, 2007
    8:53 am

    Tim,

    This hasn’t generated the “sh*t storm” I expected, as you might say.

    Mmm. Yes, varied experiences are good. But are you saying it is better to be “average at many things” rather than excellent in one thing.

    Arguably, one could possibly live a more fulfilling life but, in the traditional sense, would one likely achieve greater success…ie. better jobs, promotions, better pay?

    Tim, to be successful in corporate America and to climb the corporate ladder, doesn’t one have to be GREAT at something. A “micro-specialist” as you like to call it, in at least one very narrow field?

    Although you might consider yourself a “jack of all trades” you are VERY, VERY good at many things …among them, creating sh*t storms!! O.K., we can call it marketing.

    Ernst

  • Jose
    September 15th, 2007
    9:02 am

    Ernst,

    The message in Tim’ s blog is success in life. Not just making a lot of money because you can do one thing well at corporate america. Many of today’s society is brainwashed like this and which is why they live unfulfilled lives. There must be a clear purpose at to why, reasons come first. Greater success in what sense? More hours, because usually a promotion in corporate america means more hours with maybe a 10% increase.
    And not to mention 90% more stress of which wears on your body and mind, this tears down your body.
    Its not about the corporate ladder of a company, its about the ladder of life. The experiences are what count. There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Chill out on the language and realize this is all self expression and ideas that can be applied. Try it first and then leave a comment

    BEst

    Jose Castro-Frenzel

  • Brandon W
    September 15th, 2007
    12:04 pm

    Tim,
    You eloquently state what I’ve been trying to explain to others about myself for many years. It is my broad knowledge of topics from sociology to electrical engineering, from theatre to mathematics, that has enabled me to hold conversations with PhD’s in Physics as well as PhD’s in Comparative Religion. I enjoy that about my life and have always found repetitive activity of a specialization to be a prison.

    I must disagree with some, above, who have argued that college is a waste. A liberal arts college gives a person opportunities to be exposed to new ideas and sample dozens of subjects in one place. With that base of knowledge, then is the time to go out into the world and expand and experience the world first hand.

    Thanks Tim.

  • More Travel, and why I aspire to be a “Jack of all Trades” « there must be more
    September 15th, 2007
    12:09 pm

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  • Alexander Becker
    September 15th, 2007
    2:15 pm

    … gotta love this guy. Well said Tim.

    Agree on all points; especially “the lack of urgency typical of those who claim that something ‘takes a lifetime to learn.’”

    The term “renaissance man” needs to become an honor again.

  • thebrooke
    September 15th, 2007
    2:32 pm

    Well said, and glad you said it! This has been my philosophy and chosen path for many years, but it’s easy to start second-guessing yourself when your belief goes against the current of popular thought (even though that’s usually the surest sign of being on the right track).

    I’m reminded of a some favorite quotes from my favorite book series, Dune:

    “Any path that narrows future possibilities may become a lethal trap. Humans are not threading their way through a maze; they scan a vast horizon filled with unique opportunities. The narrowing viewpoint of the maze should appeal only to creatures with their noses buried in the sand.”

    and especially:

    “Above all else, the mentat must be a generalist, not a specialist. It is wise to have decisions of great moment monitored by generalists. Experts and specialists lead you quickly into chaos. They are a source of useless nit-picking, the ferocious quibble over a comma. The mentat-generalist, on the other hand, should bring to decision-making a healthy common sense. He must not cut himself off from the broad sweep of what is happening in his universe. He must remain capable of saying: ‘There’s no real mystery about this at the moment. This is what we want now. It may prove wrong later, but we’ll correct that when we come to it.’ The mentat-generalist must understand that anything which we can identify as our universe is merely part of a larger phenomena. But the expert looks backward; he looks into the narrow standards of his own specialty. The generalist looks outward; he looks for living principles, knowing full well that such principles change, that they develop. It is to the characteristics of change itself that the mentat-generalist must look. There can be no permanent catalogue of such change, no handbook of manual. you must look at it with as few preconceptions as possible, asking yourself: ‘Now what is this thing doing?’”
    - The Mentat Handbook

  • ernst
    September 15th, 2007
    4:23 pm

    To Anne Brown…thanks for the tip! I will check out Barbara Sher’s book as I remain skeptical about being able to earn “good money” while not being very good at anything. Does she recommend not mastering anything?

    Although I own a small business and consider myself a “jack of all trades”, I am scared stiff I might one day have to get a real job from corporate America. I wear many hats which makes the work interesting, but I am not particular good, honestly, at anything. Where need be, I hire experts (ie. accountants) to help me from going bankrupt.

    Frankly, I don’t think I have the specific, proven skills/resume required to get a decent job in a field I would like (ie. marketing) that pays $70,000-80,000 a year (ie. flipping fries at McDonalds is always an option but won’t pay for college for my 2 kids).

    How about a jack of all trades and a master of (at least) ONE? And the ONE should, ideally, be something you enjoy.

    Ernst

  • Cal Banyan
    September 15th, 2007
    10:52 pm

    Tim – You are an inspiration! I just finished your book and I am very excited about the whole concept. Thank you so much for the work you have done, and the courage you have show us.

    Cal Banyan
    Author, Trainer, Blogger, Podcaster

  • Applied Technology Online » Blog Archive » Finally! Someone that Understands me!
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  • Aric
    September 16th, 2007
    10:52 am

    Awesome. Just awesome. I have been saying this for the past 10 years of my life. For a while it seemed unattainable, and certainly not very conducive to the rat race… Not for one moment though would I give up the path of the renaissance man, no matter how broke I am. It’s all relative.

  • dane sanders
    September 16th, 2007
    11:48 am

    Tim,
    You are one of the best arguments for a liberal arts education that I’ve come across in some time. 4HWW seems like a pragmatic tutorial on not doing what you’re told but thinking about how you think and coming up with better solutions. Long live the generalist. Thanks Tim.
    -Dane Sanders

  • Carlo Vella’s Bits and Bytes » The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades
    September 16th, 2007
    2:47 pm

    [...] was discovered then. Now the best you can do is pick your field and master it.� Is it true? Here are the top five reasons why being a “jack of all trades,� is making a comeback. Blog General [...]

  • mike
    September 16th, 2007
    4:45 pm

    Ernst, if you haven’t yet, i suggest you read the 4 hour work week. being an expert in an area only means that you know more than some one else. We then apply the 80/20 rule, in this case, 80% of the mastery of a skill comes from 20% of the work, then you start hitting diminishing returns and the next 80% of work slowly fills in the last 20% of the skill. most people get cought up in the last 20% of the skill, when that time could arguably be used to get to 80% in 4 other areas. hes not advocating to be average at every thing, simply not to spend all your time trying to perfect at one thing, but poor at most else. this philosophy is why Tim excels in several areas of life, and not necessarily the master of just one.

    As an example, I’m training for IT, I could spend all my life becoming the master IT guru and getting a CCIE (an expert level certification that is limited to about 100,000 people world wide). In return i would never have the time to realize my dreams such as traveling the world, learning martial arts such as Judo, speaking other languages, becoming a better cook, play the guitar like a rock star, and so on.

    To Tim, great article, I’ve always been more of the jack of all trades type. constantly trying new things out, reading about a range of how things work and so on. I’m a huge fan of the “how it works” shows common on History channel and discovery channel.

    I’ve finished your book, and have been trying to brainstorm ideas for the start up business, but i cant seem to come up with a niche idea that meets the requirements yet. I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not looking at the bigger picture enough yet. Any other suggestions for resources to help with the muses?

  • Jack of all trades is better than master of one or few « It’s Alright!!
    September 17th, 2007
    2:20 am

    [...] Jack of all trades is better than master of one or few Filed under: Uncategorized — alright @ 7:20 am I read it here.http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/ [...]

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    September 17th, 2007
    1:12 pm

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  • » Blog Archive
    September 17th, 2007
    4:14 pm

    [...] read this quote below over at Tim Feriss’s Blog: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades 3) Boredom is failure. In a first-world economy where we have the physical necessities covered [...]

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  • Rusty
    September 18th, 2007
    3:52 am

    One of my teenage role models was Buckminster Fuller.
    He said Two things I well remember today and have guided me well.
    1) There are two ways to get a good general education: Naval Officer training, and Architecture School. Naval Officers before radio had to represent their country and its interests all over the world by dint of their own abilities and knowledge. Similarly architects in history had to carry out the diverse wishes of the King from war machines to tombs (more recently Albert Speer for Hitler).
    Given we now have radio – I went for Architecture, a diverse mix of social, artistic and mechanical knowledge and abilities.
    2) You don’t have to work for a living (or more accurately – for someone else). Bucky threw in his job writing for a science magazine, and with a family to feed, went out inventing on his own. Never patented anything and knew money would follow if he did his ‘job’ well. Wrote a bit of poetry on the side too!
    Consequently I have never had a job, but always managed to make a living, and have a wide range of abilities and interests. The best of those you learn through learning – the ability to self-educate.
    There are a lot of ways to learn quickly including some excellent accelerated learning skills, but the best way is through mentoring – apprenticeships.
    I have heard the approximation that to master a skill or technique takes 10 000 hours. So if its your job/goal and you do 100 hours a week, two years might cut it out!
    Then there is the TV show where people get a couple of weeks to learn a skill and fool the ‘experts’.
    Regarding the Competition, I think most schooling is ‘baby sitting’ and treading water until most teenagers get maturity. In that way it serves a social role rather than an intellectual one.
    The other thing we have got going for us is that most of those old generalists were dead before 50 – we get a bigger bite of the cherry if we can keep learning alive.

  • Be too complex to categorize. « Curiosity-Driven
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  • Matthew Cornell
    September 18th, 2007
    9:37 am

    Absolutely! I just realized this in the last two years moving from computer geek (20 years) to self-employed consultant in a totally unrelated field. It’s also better for our brains: From Change or Die (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/94/open_change-or-die.html):

    Dr. Michael Merzenich, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, say that the brain’s ability to change — its “plasticity” — is lifelong…

    the key is keeping up the brain’s machinery for learning… Unless you work on it, brain fitness often begins declining at around age 30 for men, a bit later for women. “People mistake being active for continuous learning,” Merzenich says. “The machinery is only activated by learning. People think they’re leading an interesting life when they haven’t learned anything in 20 or 30 years. My suggestion is learn Spanish or the oboe.”

  • Rosalee
    September 18th, 2007
    11:10 am

    Being a Jack Of All Trades, or a Renaissance soul, as I like to call it is a concept I have been working on for the past few years. Inspired by a book called Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstein (http://www.renaissancesouls.com/)

    I could not agree more, I to want to do so many things and people have actually been generally mean to me about how many things I do, talking behind my back “I do not by she can do all those things.”. But hey what do people know? Unfortunately, the specialty mentality is abundant. I have never claimed to be the best at anything but I want to experience as many things that appeal to be as possible, writing, photography, philanthropy, and the list goes on. How do you explain a girl that has worked in a funeral home, a teacher as a photographer, as head of the under cover agents, a poet, and for the Associated Press. Yes this is me and proud of it.

    One of the hard parts though is managing and deciding everything you want to do. The possibilities are endless. The HOW of it and organization of it is what Tim’s book and Margaret Lobenstein’s book have helped me get to.

    I think I may be writing a new entry of this very subject on my own blog. http:www.rosaleelaws.com.

  • Coach Kip
    September 18th, 2007
    1:45 pm

    I am so glad that I cam upon this book and blog. I have always thought it was a problem that I know about so many different things but I am never the expert in anything. I have always known that it was going to pay off. Now how do I apply it to becoming better, and becoming a location independent person?

  • Ernst
    September 18th, 2007
    5:18 pm

    Jose & Mike, thanks for the comments and suggestions! It sounds like you are both living the 4HWW lifestyle already. Thanks also to Rosalee for providing the links. Although it might not be obvious from my posts, I have read the book 4HWW and loved it! It is taking me awhile to break down forty plus years of living & working in my, shall I say, somewhat boring, unadventurous cocoon. I’m making changes (as fast as I can) to lead a more exciting and fulfilling lifestyle. This will be fun…

  • Urban Writ
    September 18th, 2007
    6:45 pm

    I’m thankful that there are people like you who speak my language! There is an interconnectedness of skills you would not think relate to each other, but they do.

    Rock it brotha’!

  • mike
    September 18th, 2007
    7:49 pm

    Ernst, While I’m flattered, I’m not quite living the 4HWW just yet, but I defiantly have the mind set for it. I’ve always been one to question why things are the way there are. I’m still young, so its easier for me to accept these views. As I’ve gone through college the last 3 years, and learned what i can expect in my chosen field, and it keeps sounding less and less appealing. I was thinking there had to be a better way to get through life, and thats when i came across Tim’s blog, and decided to pick up his book. As i stated in my last post, I’m currently playing with ideas for my first start up. I’m a tech guy, not a buissness one, so its a change of pace, but i don’t mind.

  • The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades
    September 18th, 2007
    8:19 pm

    [...] Ben wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIf you have something you think would motivate others to help change the world, please put “Tim Contest Prizeâ€? in the subject line and send more details in an e-mail to amy-at-fourhourworkweek.com. Thanks in advance! … [...]

  • On Scanners, Generalists and Renaissance souls « Rethinking
    September 18th, 2007
    10:06 pm

    [...] Sep 18th, 2007 by Donna Steinhorn http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/ [...]

  • Matt
    September 19th, 2007
    9:32 am

    Great posts !

    I must admit that at times I envy my friends who specialize, but the jack of all trades has a far greater ability to adapt. I would have been the 5th generation of lawyer in my family. I just could not bring myself to live in a daily adversarial enviornment.

    Thanks again for a great book!

    PS.

    Tim, I emailed our company’s donation to your contest.

  • KNau
    September 19th, 2007
    2:59 pm

    People have asked what the downside is to being a Jack of All Trades. The downside is that you are responsible for your own success / advancement in life, the “system” is not designed to reward people like you.

    A specialist can (and usually does) rely on an employer or society (in the form of government opportunities) to keep him/her working and content.

    The upside is limited – specialists are rarely (if ever) CEOs or heads of anything beyond a “department” – but then their downside is also limited. There’s always a generalist out there looking for a specialist to do work for him ;)

    It is quite possible for a generalist to find himself with no employment opportunities and no “handouts” waiting for him. In those times the Jacks of All Trades either make their own opportunities or perish.

    The upward potential for a generalist is unlimited, but there’s one hell of a downward spiral if you aren’t up to the taking responsibility at all times.

  • therapydoc
    September 19th, 2007
    10:52 pm

    Certainly this is the case in therapy, where having a generalist, a doc who has experience in all disorders, specializes in none (too boring) is a plus.

    But the real geniuses, the family practitioners who diagnose everything for an HMO penny and have to refer (often) to the SPECIALIST at the patient’s insistence, really get the shaft.

  • ThemePassion - Best stuff about design! » The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades
    September 20th, 2007
    1:36 am

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  • longwalksinparis.blogspot.com
    September 20th, 2007
    1:09 pm

    In the academic world this used to be called interdisciplinary studies. Those were the days when someone was really allowed to think and get a degree for it.

  • Rosalee Laws
    September 20th, 2007
    2:03 pm

    Yeah that was me, my degree was a huge mixture. Counselors nowadays try to talk everyone out of an interdisciplinary education because they say you will never get a job, which I feel is not true, unless you know you want to do something so specialized doctor, lawyer, etc.

  • SimoneM
    September 20th, 2007
    9:04 pm

    Last month I penned a little post on my women-focussed blog that examined being a “Jill of All Trades”.
    The reality is that employers these days are looking for people who are practical, flexible, responsive and in possession of enterprise or “soft” skills (ANTA study 2001).
    In the scheme of things, the capable generalist who can meet a business’ various needs in a timely manner is often more valuable than the one-eyed specialist with his truck-load of degrees…

  • CatherineL
    September 21st, 2007
    6:00 am

    I totally agree. Specialists usually ending up working for generalists.

    Richard Branson is one of the most amazing generalists I know of – and he loves learning about new businesses and launching them. It’s far more interesting than doing the same old thing day in day out.

  • Personal Growth
    September 21st, 2007
    2:28 pm

    Hey nice piece of advice and reality. And the facts are real raw and to the point and that is how is should be.

  • Nicole Beeptath
    September 22nd, 2007
    11:11 am

    It’s good to hear something positive about generalists. Usually, it is looked upon as being unfocused and a sign of laziness. I was once told that I was too open-minded!

  • The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades « Green Panda Treehouse
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  • Rodney
    September 23rd, 2007
    6:29 pm

    Really relevant post. I agree with Jeremiah Reid who posted a comment on the 14th of September. I am such a generalist that until actually reading this post I thought their was something wrong with me.

    I’ve got to go now but will continue this comment later.

    Thanks!

  • m3kw9
    September 24th, 2007
    10:11 am

    Good article. I think becoming a master has it’s merits, but generalizing gives you a higher probability of being successful. EX. How many tennis masters can make enough money for a living…the top world 1000? Say the same to whatever sport you can think of. Generalizing allows you to try many different things, and go to the one you can do best.

    I would not call it master of none, but jack of all trades, master of a few. The master of none probably would not be doing too good if everything he knows is half baked(jack of all trade). You’d still want to master something, just don’t be clueless in other subjects.

  • » Blog Archive » Entrepreneurs and Boredom
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  • mpmslcpc
    September 24th, 2007
    9:25 pm

    Author/speaker Barbara Sher uses the term “scanner” for the Jack of all trades type. She wrote an excellent book, Refuse to Choose!: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love, that describes Scanners and how to gain the maximum benefit from this lifestyle. Great book!

  • Beth K.
    September 25th, 2007
    10:39 am

    There is an excellent book called The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine that talks about this and why some of us are meant to focus on more than just one thing. I highly recommend it.

    Nice to see a post on this issue in an age that pressures us to find our “one true passion” and focus only on developing a single skill. Many of us have broad skills and interests and need the intellectual stimulation of multiple pursuits to keep us going.

  • Glenn Dixon
    September 26th, 2007
    10:44 pm

    I’ve often applied the ‘master of none’ tag to myself, usually in a negative fashion. Recently, however, I began re-evaluating this line of thinking. Your article was most timely for me!

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  • joybringer
    September 28th, 2007
    3:35 am

    Can it be that I opened a friend’s email today and ended up surfing to this article which I have never found before? I have been in a quandary about how to best market my “jill of all trades” talent. While I’m a writer and editor, I really am best at project development and organizing which widely uses my writing and editing talent. All four give me a unique and wide range of what I can do, but it is this article which I really needed to tell me that it’s okay I can’t seem to find one niche. Thank you! Now, what to call myself; I’ve never figured that one out!

  • MisterVJWU
    September 30th, 2007
    12:16 am

    Those who think being a master of one thing is good are usually not very good at time management. By the way, Tim, I’m a big fan of your stuff.

  • Ben Denham
    September 30th, 2007
    12:26 am

    I heard the saying that you can do whatever you want and at any different level mastery as long as you good in that skill that pays the bills.

    How does a generalist demand specialist wages?

    BD

  • Productivity Zen - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Productivity - Powered by SocialRank
    October 1st, 2007
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  • Cole Calhoun
    October 1st, 2007
    10:17 am

    Tim,
    As a 46 year old former corporate manager, I have seen a trend taking place in recent years in corporate America that seems to indicate specialization is the key. The generalist seems to be unable to penetrate the job market effectively for lack of a label that HR can understand. I myself have struggled in promoting myself within the corporate structure for this reason.

    I now have my own business and my general knowledge is more of an advantage.

    After reading your book, I have decided to put into practice your methods of automating a business and freeing myself and family for greater things. My problem is, As a generalist, I am having trouble defining a market and product to build my business around. I NEED MY MUSE! Can you give some methods on narrowing down the possibilities?

    Thanks Brother,
    Cole

  • Shaine › Those Bastards!
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    8:42 pm

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  • Gordon
    October 15th, 2007
    7:25 am

    Being a jack of all trades has helped me make connections which weren’t previously seen, and helps me improve my work/life balance no end.

    As a full-time technical writer and part-time web designer, I’m interested in software UI design, Information architecture and all the tools of my full-time trade as well (typography, illustration, information design and writing). There is so much crossover between all these areas that being a specialist in one would leave me, essentially, professionally crippled.

    There are other aspects which have led me to “embrace Jack” but I’ll write them up on my blog once I’ve given them a little thought.

    Great post.

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  • Barbara Saunders
    October 30th, 2007
    12:14 pm

    As a Jack of All Trades, I’ve learned that I have one particular distinct advantage that no specialist can match. Some creative specialists can be out-of-the-box thinkers in the sense that the cliche is currently used. They can be ingenious, and they can break rules. What they absolutely can not do that I can is get the refined solutions that our found in other people’s boxes!

    What my co-workers have called “brilliant” in a number of different settings isn’t brilliance at all. I have often taken a technique or tool from one world where it has crystallized into absolute uselessness and plopped it unchanged into a different context where it is just what the doctor failed to order.

  • jfgrissom
    November 7th, 2007
    2:21 am

    Hi Timothy,

    I just got your book on audio (iTunes)… I just wanted to say thanks for putting it together… what an eye opener.

    Sincerely,
    JF Grissom
    San Diego, CA.

  • Scott Boyer
    November 8th, 2007
    2:36 pm

    Hey Tim,
    I bought the book AND the audiobook.
    I appreciate this refreshing look at the jack of all trades, and your whole contrarian viewpoint on the world.

    Scott

  • geo
    November 8th, 2007
    11:23 pm

    I believe the ability to master many things and quickly is a function of IQ.

    I believe what you say holds true for those with high IQ but not those with lesser IQ’s.
    I have seen that fact reported and as a holder of a high IQ have seen it in daily practice.

    I used to believe everyone could do anything because I can but after years of encouraging others beyond their limits I sadly realize it simply isn’t true for most people.

    With a higher IQ comes an almost insatiable NEED to explore many topics. I often wonder if those with lesser IQ’s and needs aren’t happier and more content with their mastery of a small part of the universe.

  • Links from the Trench #9 | DEVTRENCH
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  • Emily
    November 21st, 2007
    2:07 am

    Generalists recognize that the 80/20 principle applies to skills: 20% of a language’s vocabulary will enable you to communicate and understand at least 80%, 20% of a dance like tango (lead and footwork) separates the novice from the pro, 20% of the moves in a sport account for 80% of the scoring, etc. Is this settling for mediocre.Thanks again for a great book!

  • Barbara Saunders
    November 22nd, 2007
    3:40 pm

    I think a false dichotomy has developed in this conversation: a true specialist (such as the PhD scientist) is not what generalists get pushed to become. Generalists are typically urged to “pick something” at a MUCH lower level of skill and accomplishment than that. A perfect example is the way that smart, verbal people are pushed into law school. Often, we are told, “You can use that law degree in anything.” The real message isn’t “become a specialist.” It is “put yourself in a box that can be labeled.

  • Anders
    January 1st, 2008
    5:29 pm

    A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, write a sooet, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, solve equations, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight effciently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Robert A. Heinleim

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  • Richard Farrar
    February 2nd, 2008
    7:46 am

    Echoes my own thoughts exactly.

    When people ask me what I do, I counter their question with what did Leonardo da Vinci do? Was he a painter? Was he a sculptor? Was he an inventor?

    Leonardo wasn’t pigeonholed, so what’s with the modern preoccupation with defining us all by a single occupation?

  • Ton
    February 3rd, 2008
    9:10 pm

    Hi Tim,

    I think I’m a “jack of all trades” myself. My interests and activities range from writing, singing, playing the guitar, martial arts (Aikido, Jujitus, Kali, Kendo, etc.), technology , business, travel, psychology, languages, among other things. I definitely wouldn’t consider myself a “master of none” since I’m doing some of these activities at a world-class level, too.

    Just like what you wrote, it is excitement and fun that motivates me to pursue my interests. I get bored easily and my different activities make me feel alive.

    One thing I’m working on right now is becoming an entrepreneur. Your book has provided me some great ideas.

    Vielen Dank und viel Erfolg!

    Ton

  • emendatio » Blog Archive » Why being a generalist is a great thing.
    February 6th, 2008
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    [...] Timothy Ferris – 5 reasons to be a Jack Of All Trades [...]

  • Manan
    March 14th, 2008
    2:28 am

    Dear Tim,

    Really looking forward to your blog on the explanation of “world-class” as you mentioned in one of your replies. (below)

    ———–
    ###

    LOL… precisely. Federer’s days are numbered! I’ll be posting a comment to explain “world-class” in a few hours :) Tim
    ————

    Thanks

    –

    Hi Manan,

    I think I gave my thoughts in one of the comments to this post? If not, my apologies, but this will be something I’ll explore more in future posts regardless.

    All the best,

    Tim
    Manan

  • 4 Cocktails to Cure the Common Cold: Ancient China, German Alcoholics, and Modern Labs | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
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  • Nathalie
    March 18th, 2008
    6:40 pm

    I love this! I was once told that saying “jack of all trades, master of none” in high school after telling the teacher I could fix the computer he was using. I was also a black belt at the Tae Kwon Do martial art, wrote poems in english class, did well in physics and loved to create digital artwork. After spending 5 years in University specializing the boredom out of me, I am finally ready to get back to my roots. I know that I was really a more amazing person back then, I had dimensions, I had passions and ideas. These days the best I can do is answer programming questions.

    Now it’s time to be the entrepreneur that has been simmering inside of me! Thanks for the insightful post.

  • DL
    March 19th, 2008
    12:38 pm

    Tim,

    Because the product I support is *SO* f’ing complex, I feel that becoming an expert in it is the only way to be successful in my position.

    But then I read your blog from time to time and find posts like this. You are one seriously sharp knife. You cut through the b.s. and go to the heart of the matter. This sentence struck me severely, and I had to stop and internalize it for awhile:

    ====
    Lack of intellectual stimulation, not superlative material wealth, is what drives us to depression and emotional bankruptcy. Generalizing and experimenting prevents this, while over-specialization guarantees it.
    ====

    You made my confront my main issue: while the product I support is complex, it is no longer intellectually stimulating or fun. I do it because it brings in a paycheck.

    I suffer from medical depression and I think the position I am in goes a long way towards keeping me ‘down’. We’re a single income family of 6. I make enough money to support my family and we’re comfortable, but I hate my job and my lack of zest for life that I used to have several years ago.

    HEEEEEELP!!!!

    p.s. I live in Austin but couldn’t afford to get an Interactive badge for SXSW. I truly wish I could have come. All the best.

    DL

  • Barbara Saunders
    March 19th, 2008
    3:32 pm

    Response to geo’s comment about IQ: I think you have a good hypothesis there, one that reminds me of an observation that’s always irked me. As the responses to this post illustrate, some number of people (though we may be a minority) do, in fact, function this way.

    Set aside the issue of whether “IQ=smart” and consider that THIS “syndrome” is a normal one for some portion of people who score high on IQ tests — that compared to others in the population, this group includes folks who a) can learn a broader spectrum of things than average, b) enjoy learning and feel driven to it, c) learn rapidly, and d) have learning achievements that may be less than focused specialists but are much greater than average. Why demonize it!

    Why not just accept it as one in the array of human possibilities, and provide kids who display these traits with appropriate career direction FOR THEM. Barbara Sher has said that “dumb” companies fire such people while “smart” companies let them move around the company tinkering with and solving the problems no one else can solve!

  • Sean
    March 25th, 2008
    10:32 am

    Tim – kick ass post and I couldn’t agree more, as a proclaimed renaissance man by friends and family. I relish the challenges, enjoyment and fulfillment that comes out of taking up new hobbies and interests. I agree you can become world class at anything. My challenge is mostly from taking up too many hobbies at once and pacing myself a bit in order to become masters of them. I think the balance of left brain/right brain activities makes you much more capable of anything you set out to do. Loved your talk at SXSW and look forward to keeping up with your blog and tweets. Just remember, Maslow Forgot about Beer (the title of my blog ;)). Keep it up!

  • Manan
    March 30th, 2008
    3:00 am

    Dear Tim,

    My apologies.

    Yes, you had posted your thoughts on being “world-class” earlier as a comment. I missed it as I was searching for your replies only through Ctrl + F and “###”.

    Loved your thoughts on the same.

    Thanks.

  • Junsu Park
    March 30th, 2008
    8:32 pm

    Is it possbile for a 14 year old to become jack of all trades? Cause I’m trying to excel in tennis, video production, graphics, algebra II, and dance. I have to balance school work and my hobbies, but I want to know your suggestion. Should I put all my efforts into school so I can go to good college and master those skills later, or should I find a balance? Please reply ASAP!

  • Jose Castro-Frenzel
    March 31st, 2008
    1:54 am

    Junus,

    Hey how are? I would definitely suggest balance. Academics are always good but I can tell you from personal experience that you want to have fun while you are in HS. Don’t miss out on doing all the fun things there are to do. I for example started martial arts in hs and am glad I did, otherwise if you wait till you are older it may be more difficult for you to start new hobbies/sports.

    I hope this helps. I noticed your comment and felt compelled to throw in my thoughts.

    Cheers

    Jose Castro-Frenzel

  • Jesse C
    May 16th, 2008
    12:27 pm

    Interesting. Gave me a new look into the wisdom behind Catholic medieval and rennaisance philosophy and culture, of being universal…

  • Matt
    May 17th, 2008
    12:52 am

    This is so true. I always believe practical experience is far more than theory, sitting in a lecture theatre etc. Its also very handy when your stuck in situations to be able to wing it and work it out. Most people lack these skills and are too scared to have a shot at something. How else are you going to learn except by trying anyway! Thanks Tim. keep up the good work.

  • April
    May 27th, 2008
    12:42 am

    Amazing article! Very thought provoking-and I am specifically thinking how this is applied to character development as well. Dynamic, engaging, and fun people pursue a multitude of interests and curiosities, often employing extensive and articulate vocabularies, and attend to both themselves and their social networks in genuine and authentic ways. They are the beautiful, smart, funny people we all want to get to know and when friendship is established we enjoy “being” with. And the wonderful part is none of this is developed by specialization. Afterall the beautiful woman who flawlessly paints her face and gracefully glides through the room in a beaded gown but has nothing to say becomes a hollow ornament. The geek that can speak fluent German AND Klingon effortlessly with his friends but finds himself utterly tongue-tied around ALL females of the species is really cuttin down his chances of gettin laid. These are cliche and extreme examples of course but even the more subtle forms of cultural inhibition are dangerous and can be just as miserable. Such as the struggling art student that takes herself and her emotions way too seriously to let go and get some groove on at the local dance club. Or the father that has expertly planned for his family to arrive at the same cabin in the same woods with the same great fishing down to the minute. These are not the people we want to hang out with much. What we would like to to engage with the folks that have something new to say. Wear something unique and intriguing and colorful. Or look like they are enjoying all sorts of hilarious inside jokes. What are these people thinking? Feeling? Doing? Where are they going? How did they get there? How do they look so good?

    Generalization. The All you can eat buffet of Life.

    On a positive end-being dynamic, curious, cultured, and multifaceted is very attractive and affords you the opportunity to “play” with others. Banter. Explore. Surprise. Inspire. And most treasured experience of all is the exchange of insight and experience and inspired creativity-dealing in the multiplication of value rather than merely addition. Afterall-any animal added to another animal can make an additional animal.

    But what animal can throw a really great party?

    I didn’t read all the commenting posts to this-I had to generalize-even though I’m sure I missed some awesome one. But the spirit of each one of them is largely the same grand feeling.

    Here’s a quote I was reminded of, from Robert A. Heinlin’s Time Enough for Love:
    “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

  • Braden Loader
    June 2nd, 2008
    3:45 pm

    Hello Tim,

    My name is Braden Loader. I’m currently a commerce student at the University of Manitoba, and to be frank, I’m tired of being 21 and not sailing my own boat off the coast of Costa Rica!

    I have a prospective business idea in the form of a self-guided adventure travel company, yet feel my business plan and concept are loose and undeveloped. I believe some serious strategic aid is to be sought if I’m not to be one of the several thousand internet sites that bite the dirt immediately. Realizing this may be an atypical request, I can only hope you’d humour me, as a newcomer such as myself could learn a lot from your business savvy. Where and when may we meet?

    As urgency is a matter of opinion, I’ll leave it up to you!

    Regards (I just can’t do the “cheers” thing),

    Braden Loader

    P.S. Apologies to those with intellectually stimulating comments, all I can do is try!

  • John
    June 3rd, 2008
    11:30 am

    I love the Heinlein quote, it sums life up for me!

    As someone who’s been called a Renaissance Man more than once, I feel like I’ve just found a second home!
    I’ve only just started the book and I’m loving it.

    As a kid, I thought I’d like to be James Bond, able to draw on whatever skill is required to handle any situation. I wanted to be McGyver, to solve problems logically and instead of shooting them or blowing them up. Leonardo Da Vinci became my idol. Learn the art of science and the science of art. I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on since the age of four in pretty much every field imaginable. Martial arts, basic military training (I’m Irish so no danger of going to war!), playing the guitar, singing, working as a potter, a stint in McDonalds, an IT Diploma and 9 years and counting living in Paris, France married to the love of my life.

    Yet something’s missing.

    And I’m still trying to find it. How do you tie it all together? How can you use that generalist non-specialist mindset to get ahead?

    Too complex to categorise…….I love that. And I’d rather be familiar to competent in a dozen fields than a world leader in one single area with little or no knowledge in any other.

  • Daniel C. Young
    July 28th, 2008
    1:21 pm

    Specialization does make sense for branding.

    When your aim is to establish a unique position in the minds of your audience, being “the ONLY _____ that _____” (read ‘ZAG’ by by Marty Neumeier) gives you a distinct competitive advantage. “Being the best in the world is seriously underrated” (Seth Godin), because your message cuts through clutter and gets noticed quickly.

    But there two primary functions of business: innovation and marketing.

    Being *perceived* as a specialist makes sense for marketing.
    Being a generalist is crucial for innovation.

    Specialists who only know how to market fail to innovate.

  • Joshua Enfield
    August 7th, 2008
    2:12 am

    One other thing to note. I can’t recall the exact references (though I am sure there are many beyond a couple), but there has been more than a few inventions and cunning edge discoveries discovered simply because of knowledge in another field. The one I am thinking of is a discovery made in a field of science due to the founder drawing something from the knowledge of violin playing. Great post! It is very inspiring.

  • David Payne
    August 14th, 2008
    3:08 am

    I checked out Alfred Loomis on Wikipedia. According that source, he was the original inspiration for Bruce Wayne and Batman!

    Do you think that someone will soon base a comic book character on your lifestyle and persona?

    What’s your own personal opinion on wearing your underwear outside of your pants?

    Seriously though, your achievements are amazing, inspiring and very possible for those willing to adopt them. I’ve done intensive training and gotten excellent results in such a short time that you get the inevitable, “You’re so lucky” or “You’re so gifted” comments. All nonsense of course, it’s just dedication, a few street smarts and effective leverage of time and resources that does it. I have to say that you do all of this with a great amount of style. Hats off to you!

  • Hello world! « Femme en Route
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  • Bobby Rio
    September 4th, 2008
    9:37 pm

    Interesting to find this article. as I’ve been thinking a lot about whether or not I’m over extending myself by trying to learn and accomplish too much.

    The point about knowing 20% of a language and being able to communicate with 80% of the people is really true.. not just figuratively speaking of language.

    I follow all sports just enough to have an intelligent conversation about them, same with politics, stocks, and music.

    I’m not a fanatic of any of these… and wouldn’t miss them if you took them away.. but by taking a half hour every day to read up on these 4 topics, I can talk to just about anyone.

  • Barbara Saunders
    September 5th, 2008
    10:33 am

    I think generalist-specialist may be a false dichotomy anyway. My suspicion is that most talented and highly successful people are or end up being particularly capable at accomplishing some particular thing or cluster of things. The trick is that “things and clusters of things” as they exist in the real world are necessarily interdisciplinary because disciplines are arbitrary constructs. The most valuable person in most situations is the person who has the abilities and sensitivities of a specialist in the randomly combined handful of areas that are pertinent to that situation. That person is always going to look like a generalist – at least in that narrow job history.

  • RawSevens » Blog Archive » Inspired Schooling
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  • Lisa Rothstein
    September 11th, 2008
    3:42 am

    Hey Tim
    Great post
    I’m writing a book on this subject, advice for people juggling many talents and passions. Can I get an interview with you? Or cite part of this post? Thanks! enjoying following you on Twitter
    Lisa
    P.S. I have an apartment in Paris you could use

  • Tim Ferriss
    September 11th, 2008
    11:21 am

    @Lisa,

    No problem if you want to cite a few quotations from this post, as long as you attribute it to me and provide the blog URL (www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog). I’m taking some time off of interviews, I’m afraid.

    Best of luck and perhaps we’ll bump into each other in Paris :)

    Pura vida,

    Tim

  • John Forde
    September 18th, 2008
    5:25 am

    Thanks for posting this, Tim. I couldn’t agree more. I happen to have en endless well of curiosity, it seems, and I’ve spent most of my life trying out the many different things I want to know how to do. For years, I was mediocre at most of them. I’m still mediocre at some. And others, I’m just getting started.

    At the same time, a teenage passion for cars now has me able to lube points, change water pumps, and do all sorts of things under the hood I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. The same for computers. I was a geek then, but now I get to be the hero who can fix most people’s tech problems.

    I wrote for fun. Now I do it for a living (and a good one). I paint, first not so well but now not so badly. I draw (always have) and had a published weekly cartoon strip for a couple of years.

    I cook, sometimes pretty well and sometimes badly. I play the guitar. I juggle. I’m learning right now about photography. I’ve learned how to travel and now live overseas (Paris) a good part of the year. My French is coming along. Next, my wife and I plan to tackle Spanish.

    I say this not to brag (well, maybe a little… because I’m proud of how these skills piled up) but because I never would have imagined, when I had few or none of these skills under my belt, that I’d get this far. Nor did I realize how much each newly mastered and divergent skill would give me both the energy and the zeal to tackle the next thing on the list.

    For instance, I’m learning Wordpress. For years, I couldn’t get anyone to create a site for me that was quite right. Mostly because I didn’t know the possibilities myself, and couldn’t direct them. Finally I just decided, I have to learn to do this… and it’s coming together. Not perfect. But a year from now, I’m guessing I’ll be pretty good at it.

    Anyway… great post.

    You’ve got a quick wit and you’re clearly a clever thinker.

    Good stuff.

    P.S. And no, at this point I haven’t read your book yet. But what I’ve seen on this site convinces me. I’m going to go check it out right now.

  • Perspire: A taste of cool, ’cause being creative is tough » Blog Archive » The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades
    September 30th, 2008
    6:09 pm

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  • rhett daniels
    October 5th, 2008
    5:03 am

    I learned the value of being a Jack; when up against an economist I would pull upon my IT background and knowledge of systems (something the economist may not be as familiar), but when up against an IT expert I would use my economics background or business (which they may not be as familiar with)…in other words, you can exploit the expert’s limitations.

  • Aaron Robertson
    November 21st, 2008
    10:02 am

    This post describes me to a tee! At the tender age of 25, I’m already an author, journalist, business owner, and candidate for state-level office. I have already been mocked by many people for being a “jack of all trades” and for “doing everything and nothing” with my life. But the funny thing is, is that I know many of these people aren’t happy with their lives and one-track careers. On the contrary, I’m very content with my life and work.

    Thanks for this post Tim!

  • 5.5 Steps on how to cultivate a creative environment « ScottDig
    November 24th, 2008
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    [...] I didn’t write “Jack of all trades.” Reason being, if you have a breadth of skills, but little depth, you lack long-term value to [...]

  • Joshua Moore
    December 2nd, 2008
    12:33 am

    Being able to delegate tasks to people smarter than yourself is an important skill for the generalist. I personally think creating a list of 3-5 areas you would like to become knowledgeable in and then continually learning in those areas will improve your ability and make you become a ’specialist’ in each field but a ‘generalist’ overall. This is even more important as an employee who does not have their own business running part-time. Being able to move from one occupation to another and having transferable skills is critical to surviving in the Information Age.

  • flamedryad
    December 2nd, 2008
    11:49 am

    this may already of been said but
    how does one know what 20%
    of the information they will need
    (example when learning guitar there are
    dozens of cords but for the sake of
    idea lets say there are 10 which 2
    are most used? do you really need to know
    that augmented F sharp cord? but what of the g cord?)
    so how does one go about finding the 20%?

  • Barbara Saunders
    December 2nd, 2008
    4:40 pm

    I would define a generalist not as a person who knows “a little of this; a little of that” but as a person who has achieved about “mid-level” specialist abilities in more than one area and who has derived insights from the connections others (including specialists) don’t see in order to solve new and complex problems and to innovate.

  • John Bruscato
    December 11th, 2008
    10:54 pm

    questions:

    What if everyone was a generalist? If everyone was a generalist, we would still have people who mastered some occupations better than others. How would one generalist give up his skills to another?

  • Blog Showcase - Four Hour Work Week | CommerceShop.com
    December 20th, 2008
    9:21 pm

    [...] His blog is both a support site with resources for the book as well as a diary of his life in action – as he puts it “experiments in lifestyle design”. If you’re made easily jealous don’t read it, but if hopefully you’re more likely to be amazed and inspired about his tales from his journeys all over the world from the Amish to Buenos Aires to Tokyo to Denmark. There are plenty of tips peppered into his travels (or maybe it’s the other way around) from how to learn languages and never forget anything to how to hack your sleep and how to lose weight without exercise. He revels in being a jack of all trades. [...]

  • Doug
    December 29th, 2008
    3:06 pm

    I bought the book two days ago. I’ve been reading this blog most of the day. this post especially rings with me. I’ve always wondered why we never strive to be like the great polymaths like Leonardo, Michelangelo, etc.

    Why the obsession with specialising.

    As such I’ve thrown myself into learning more and more. Some of my personal goals include ju jutsu & iai jutsu, poetry, philosophy, break dancing, yoga, Spanish and Japanese.

    Since expanding my horizons like this the world and my life has become 1000 times more fulfilling. I’m re-discovering lost hobbies and interests. I love it. I love the fact I’ve found someone who so successfully displays this too. One hell of an inspiration.

  • The reDesign is Coming... | Insight Writer
    January 10th, 2009
    9:46 am

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  • In Praise of Lifelong Learning | Insight Writer
    January 16th, 2009
    8:46 am

    [...] Saturday I mentioned an article by Tim Ferris called The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades. The stuff he talks about is really sticking with me! I feel like their is one specific point that [...]

  • Justin
    January 29th, 2009
    5:53 pm

    Reason Number 6: Cross Procedure.

    If you have a discovery in your main field of expertise, other fields can be improved with the same type of thinking or similar concepts. Many developments in a wide range of fields can achieved by using “cross procedure.” Here is an example. Computers! They have been integrated into every facet of our lives however they certainly did not start out that way.

  • Chuck Burt
    February 18th, 2009
    2:17 pm

    As Robert A. Heinlein wrote, “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

    I’ve always believed this, though my personal reasoning is most in line with the boredom argument. As soon as I understand something with any depth, I’m ready to move on. It’s not the destination of knowledge but the journey of learning that I enjoy.

    Seth Godin has tried to make me question that, but it’s one of the few places he is short-sighted. As he writes, [paraphrased, badly] if you are looking to hire somebody, you hire the absolute best your money can afford. My retort: who then does that hiring?

  • Joel
    February 19th, 2009
    7:02 am

    Just a quick thought.

    I recently switched to Google Chrome as my web browser and all of your blog postings come out with a black background and gray text, barely readable. I don’t know much about web design to offer specific suggestions, but you may want to look into it. Thanks.

    • Tim Ferriss
      February 19th, 2009
      12:11 pm

      @Joel,

      Thanks! I’ll send this on to the designer.

      Best,

      Tim

  • Armand Verspeek
    February 19th, 2009
    5:48 pm

    Tim,
    After reading your post I have to admit, i did recognize myself deeply, many thanks.

    But lately, i do not know, i have read your book with shiploads of interest and inspiration, i found it hard to outsource duties to third parties. Maybe due lack of trust to others & feeling too important to my own duties. I feel a bit awkard to my own lifestyle.
    My activities are with creative skills; I am a graphic designer, powerpointpimper, making animations, helping people out with visualizing their dreams and goals in life, i create paintings, storyboards, sell & design T-shirts & rebuilt furniture, organize events for people to share their passions, goals in life & inspirations along a bonfire, i do vj-ing at dance-parties i.e. all very nice to meet nice people and do my thing along the way.
    I go on holiday three times a year and learn a lot and see interesting people and their cultures. I follow courses in kitesurfing,

    The ‘generalist’-thing is making me a bit chaotic and i have noticed in the years that friends of the second circle are changing rapidly, it is all dynamic. But sometimes it really is making me tired. Questions as; should i move on like this, why is there not more money coming into the pocket from all the things i undertake? I eventually would like to buy a house, at least a place for myself. ( i am living for 4 years in properties of friends or people i met along the way).

    My request for your advise is; how can i outsource some of the duties within my ‘jack-of-all’-trades so i ‘work’ less and not feeling tired of ‘having a loads to do’-voice in my head & how can i make more of a living out of it (maybe more business-like, a side i have to develope probably) by doing so?
    And beyond that, i have the feeling of having a lifestyle to make some jealous with but why is there not the consiousness within me that says it is all ok like it is?

    My greetings from Holland
    Armand

  • Slow and Steady « theentreprenoob
    March 3rd, 2009
    8:37 pm

    [...] a jack of all trades, which apparently some people still think is a good [...]

  • Tim Andren
    March 16th, 2009
    4:49 pm

    I find that most personalities who do well in their respective niche actually have something to bring to the table from outside of the subject. They are not experts in one field. They are experts in many areas and choose one area to focus on. It’s proven that great ideas are the combination of several preexisting ideas.

    Take Tim for example, who’s knowledge of how many different aspects of life work makes his lifestyle approach work.

    This is far more interesting and effective that the standard self-help folk who churn out the same material again and again.

  • Tim Andren
    March 16th, 2009
    4:52 pm

    Further, the jack-of-all-trades mind is best served in an era where we are spending time online and a myriad of subjects is a click away. The growth in the longtail of divisions of a particular subject proves that breadth is important.

  • Dave
    April 17th, 2009
    2:24 pm

    Excellent post. Very timely in this economy.

  • What single book is the best introduction to your field (or specialization within your field) for laypeople? « Notrous
    April 27th, 2009
    6:29 pm

    [...] within your field) for laypeople? This is very intriguing and was found in Tim Ferriss’ The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades comment [...]

  • Creating The New World, Part 4 Abundance | Yes to Me
    May 15th, 2009
    3:49 pm

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  • Sitara Devi
    May 23rd, 2009
    3:14 pm

    As an avid serial specialist, thanks for the article! Just one thing-any suggestions for one of the 2 day challenges? I went to Whole Foods market and not a single “attractive” male in sight! I am all for asking for numbers (it will be a first; I am the one asked), but what next?

  • Debbie Evran
    June 25th, 2009
    4:02 am

    I am little confused – as I am always being told that is it better to focus on one strength or idea first, rather than have 10 ideas all up in the air ( so to speak ).

    ie don’t start a new chapter before you’ve finished the last one.

    But reading your other posts, it seems I am not alone. As self employed graphic designer, I often feel weighted down by the multitude of tasks and responsibilities. Juggling many hats, sales, admin and the design.

    However about six months ago I went to on a workshop run by Wealth Dynamics speaker Roger Hamilton. In his workshop he talked about finding your core dynamic your strength. Any elements of your business that you find difficult or frustrating – means you are not working in your flow. And those are the part you should outsource. I have to say it was an enlightening moment for me. By actually letting go of wanting to be in control and master everything, my business has started to improved.

    Here is Roger explaining his philosophy,
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhhADnD3pl8

  • Kelly
    July 1st, 2009
    12:03 pm

    Completely agree. Being an expert in a narrow field can not only be boring but also dangerous.

    It leads to your back-pain specialist not realizing that there may be something wrong with your stomach. To interdisciplinary academics being shunned from circles of so-called experts -when they’re often the visionaries that can see the connections that others miss.

  • Matt Weber
    July 3rd, 2009
    8:31 am

    I can’t imagine a comment on a post this old is likely to get any useful responses, but it’s worth a shot. What do you (anyone) think is the best way to master drawing quickly? Alternatively, and perhaps more usefully, is there a general way to break down any given skill so you can master 80% of it quickly? (I feel almost certain that Tim has posted on the latter topic before, but I couldn’t find it.)

  • Sitara
    July 6th, 2009
    7:09 pm

    Matt,
    Learning is my passion, and learning what matters most so that I may enjoy the knowledge and teach it effectively quickly is how I spend most of my time. Is there something specific you wish to learn or simply to synthesize the principles of rapid mastery?
    Best Wishes,
    Sitara

  • Caidian Johnson
    July 7th, 2009
    2:30 am

    Hi Tim

    I read your book in about two days – I always thought there was something wrong with me for wanting to master lots of different things. I was born to be a Polymath and I am a Creator according to Roger Hamilton’s Wealth Profile Tests.

    Thanks for this Tim, this has really clarified my path in life and I will pursue different paths with a new zeal.

    As for becoming ‘World Class’ in different fields – I would argue that you only need to better than 80% of those in your field to do that and seeing as so many people give up so easily – I believe that if your consistent then that would be pretty simple.

    I mean look at those people who take the EAS and Body for Life challenges getting incredible model-like bodies in just 3-4 months.

    Anyone could do it – It’s not ‘can you?’ – It’s ‘will you?’

  • Pete
    July 7th, 2009
    11:29 am

    This post saved my life.

  • James
    July 21st, 2009
    10:09 am

    There seems to be a false dichotomy in many responders answers. There is a third option between the “specialist” and the “generalist”. It would have to be a “multi-specialist:”.

    If you work hard and systematically for 30 minutes a day on almost anything you will improve. If you can work regularly at this for 5 – 10 years you will be considered truly gifted.

    Thus – one could chose 5 totally disparate hobies (a musical instrument, a series of foreign languages, a martial art, a unique artistic hobby, distance running…) and by spending 30 minutes a day on each of them you will become “world class” in probably about 5 years AND you can continue to super-specialize in a career if you so choose.

    Thus – The MD/pHD who is also a university level pianist, speaks 5 languages and holds black belts in 2 different martial arts is a very achievable goal if a consistent plan of attack is followed

  • armin Hutzler
    August 1st, 2009
    3:13 pm

    hallo tim!

    guter blog! bin über dein buch auf die seite gekommen!
    auch bei uns in deutschland ist das thema sehr aktuell!

    hier ist meine rezession von deinem buch:
    http://www.outdoor-camping-blog.de/allgemein/die-4-stunden-woche-timothy-tim-ferris.html

  • Zel
    September 23rd, 2009
    4:21 am

    Better to be a jack of all trades than to be a one trick pony.

  • Ian
    September 23rd, 2009
    2:11 pm

    Finally some support for being a jack of all trades! I do believe however, that we who are the jacks of all trades, owe our success to the specialists who make it possible for us to acquire a particular specialty so quickly by learning from their work, mistakes and products. I’m just glad they are there to allow me the freedom of being a master of none but oft better than a master of one.

  • Yadgyu
    September 25th, 2009
    6:50 pm

    This sounds good on paper, but when you have kids and a spouse to support, you had better get a specialty if you want food, clothes, and shelter.

    I can tell that many of you here do not take responsibility seriously. I at one time was a dreamer. But when reality set in, I realized that I was unfocused and was making excuses.

    It is a good thing to generalize if you have no responsibility. But for most of us, being very good at one job is all that we have to depend on. Being average or knowing a little about a lot is a good career path for someone who enjoys making minimum wage. I know plenty of know-it-alls who can barely keep the lights on.

  • Barbara Saunders
    September 25th, 2009
    7:28 pm

    Yadgyu – that depends on the field. In some fields, business men with eclectic backgrounds oversee PhDs who make much, much less than they do.

  • Yadgyu
    September 26th, 2009
    6:58 pm

    This is true Barbara. Most CEOs are not the smartest people at the company. But on the other hand, most people will never become CEOs. It is better to seek specialization. There is true job security, but being a specialist can help.

    I think most people want to be the best at a skill. It is obvious because kids want to be great like their idols. Many kids want to be the best athlete or entertainer. That never changes. What does change is that most people lose focus and give up on greatness. They settle for less and pretend as if being great at one thing is bad. But most successful people are great at one thing. They become the people that we idolize because they are great at that one thing!!!

    It is sad to see someone who is great at one thing try something else and look like a fool. Greatness can only be achieved with unrelenting focus and dedication. There will always be some fly-by-night acts who get a short burst of fame. But the greats stand the test of time. Michael Jackson was no Jack of all trades. He was remembered for being a great entertainer. No one cares if he could milk a cow or do an oil change or do some other random skill. Peole just wanted him to sing and dance.

    Greatness = Specialization

  • Yadgyu
    September 26th, 2009
    7:29 pm

    Specialization is really only the way to go.

    Those who are great in life are usually great at one thing. It takes focus, dedication, patience, and perseverance to be great in life. Most people are not great at life because they lack these qualities. We don’t remember Michael Jackson for a myriad of skills. We remember him for being a great entertainer.

    I would strongly encourage 99.99999% of you to focus at one skill and try to become great. Otherwise you will be known as the dude who a little about everything, but who really isn’t that good at anything.

    Specialization = Greatness

  • Barbara Saunders
    September 27th, 2009
    8:51 pm

    Yadgyu – a couple of things:

    First, you say not everyone can become a CEO, and then you use Michael Jackson as your counterexample. Many more people become CEOs than become anything comparable to Michael Jackson.

    To stick with that example, Michael makes the case for those of us promoting generalism! You can say he was a “specialist” “entertainer”; I think it’s more accurate to see him as an uber-generalist: singer, writer/composer, dancer, recording artist, and video creator/producer are all different specialities. (MJ’s back-up dancers are specialists; he was a generalist.) He was also a philanthropist and, according to news reports, aspired to make feature films.

    Even within the realm of music-making, his unique contribution was breaking the genre barriers between “white” rock ‘n’ roll (e.g., guitar riff elements and such) and “black” R&B and soul.

    So – your example argues against your point.

  • Barbara Saunders
    September 27th, 2009
    8:54 pm

    Michael Jackson was a generalist – singer, dancer, songwriter, video producer, philathropist, aspiring feature film maker – all different specialities. He achieved his breakthrough by combining elements of rock ‘n’ roll with elements of R&B and soul – again, no specialist.

    And as few people will ever be CEOs, many, many, many fewer will be world-famous entertainers in the category of Michael Jackson!

  • Tim Lyons
    October 1st, 2009
    10:50 am

    The inherent meaning of expert means you are actually a master of all of the minute parts of that which become the “thing” you are an expert at… thereby making you a generalist…

    Think – a banker is good at math, people skills, forcasting, complex spreadsheets, risk anaylsis, risk avoidance.

    A bartender is good at selling, mixing, tasting, serving.

    No one is a specialist. People who promote specialists are either your boss, or are too scared to take a shot at living.

    Boo crappy examples that don’t prove a point. Hooray – having many talents and outlets.

  • John Forde
    October 2nd, 2009
    3:46 am

    Wow… I wrote in earlier in full agreement with the “jack of all trades” idea. But this latest run of posts, admittedly, has given me a gut response that’s almost the opposite of what I said earlier.

    That is, for all the reasons to support generalism, it’s a mistake to dismiss specialism entirely. To be a generalist, I believe, is not to someone who takes it easy and absorbs whatever experiences and opportunities that drift by. Rather, it’s to be someone open to voracious curiosity. Someone willing to try a lot and do a lot, even if it’s out of their comfort zone or not clearly applicable to whatever else it is that they happen to be doing.

    Was Michael Jackson a generalist? Is a banker or a bartender? I think those remain open for debate, despite all the evidence for both sides of the argument provided above. What remains undeniable, though, is that those who succeed either work hard, work smart, or some of both.

    Tim, it seems to me, is advocating working smart. But not in a way that cheats any important endeavor of energy (whether your own or someone you’ve put to work on making that happen). What he’s not advocating is being unserious about accomplishment.

    Likewise, specialists often succeed at one thing because they’re passionate enough to specialize and because they dig in deep and learn to do that thing. There are infinite stories of great surgeons who can also play the piano, hike a mountain, or spot a good wine. There are writers who could paint, speak multiple languages, and throw a good punch. And the list goes on.

    Are they generalists? Yes, in the sense that their passion for living is not restrained only to that one thing they’re known for best. But you’d best believe that the one thing they did extremely well, they did often and above all those other things.

    Maybe that all runs against the theories of the four-hour-work week. But I don’t think so… for reasons already mentioned above.

  • Barbara Saunders
    October 3rd, 2009
    11:45 am

    To some degree the argument is semantic. So, I’ll offer my definitions! A good generalist is a multi-specialist who, because of the multiple perspectives, is able to “break rules” intelligently. The person who drifts from thing to thing with no intellectual or social compass is not a generalist. The “true” specialist is limited by his/her rules and stumped when a different approach is the only thing that will work. The generalist is characterized by lack of such limits.

    You want someone to come into your company and conduct a training, you get a specialist. You want someone to tell you whether it’s really training you need or whether it’s really a new recruitment program or to fire the CEO because his affairs with underlings are causing havoc, better get a generalist; you’ll pay the specialist trainer tens or hundreds of thousands, and everyone will still be blind to the problem.

    You do not want to be a specialist when your line of work is, say, selling newspaper advertising. Much, much better to be a newspaper ad specialist who ALSO knows something about, say, social networking and can make the shift when craigslist comes along.

    Back to the Michael Jackson example. As I conceptualize it, there are great entertainers who fall into both categories. Their trajectory tends to be different. I’ll take the low-hanging fruit first, since the two are often compared.

    Elvis – specialist: though he was certainly a genre crosser and a genre creator (even if he did so passively), he was a singer/performer who did some arrangement and writing of songs for himself to sing. Actor? The consensus is no. His philanthropy seems to have been merely personal gifting. He wasn’t a dancer. And so on.

    MJ – multi-specialist really – no specialist songwriter OR singer OR dancer could accomplish those videos that made him famous.

    I’ll make a comparison with another entertainer. Jerry Garcia was a specialist. Designed guitars for himself to play, yet look at the Grateful Dead movie he did some directing for. You can see, it’s a bit “off” as a film because he could not really direct. Neither Elvis nor Jerry Garica – who both made big accomplishments in their specialities – could really get through in the generalist realm.

    (And I say that as a bigger fan of those two than of MJ.)

  • Barbara Saunders
    October 3rd, 2009
    11:48 am

    In addition to semantics, there’s another meta issue to be tackled. Is being a generalist or a specialist really a choice? I think the whole “jack of all trades” epithet arose because there are people who simply aren’t happy or successful as generalists, whose minds don’t work that way! There are others who cannot function as generalists; if they don’t choose to focus, they do end up simply wandering rather than pioneering.

  • Oleg Mokhov
    October 23rd, 2009
    12:52 pm

    “”Jack of all trades, master of none, though ofttimes better than master of one.”

    Hey Tim,

    By not focusing on only one thing, you constantly stimulate your creativity and increase the potential to come up with something great.

    When your passion spawns many things, you are likely to combine them into something great. Just like artists who were great at one medium brought in elements from other things they were passionate about (The Beatles), or businesses who fused 2 disparate elements to create something remarkable (Apple fusing art and devices).

    It’s actually easier to learn the 20% (of the 20/80) of things you’re passionate about and be able to combine them into something unique and great than focus exclusively on becoming the best at one thing (unlikely).

    Scott Adams of Dilbert on how you have 2 options in life:

    1. Become the best at one specific thing.
    2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.

    “The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.”

    By combining multiple things you’re pretty great at–but not the best–you can create remarkable things that are uniquely you.

    Awesome list Tim, inspiring to hear this, especially in this day and age. So true how we should be more like Da Vinci than a NBA star,
    Oleg

  • Oleg Mokhov
    October 23rd, 2009
    12:54 pm

    Sorry for the 2nd comment, forgot to add the Scott Adams link:

    http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/07/career-advice.html

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