Comments on: The Top 5 Reasons to Be a Jack of All Trades http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/ Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:05:13 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Tim Ferriss http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/comment-page-1/#comment-55805 Tim Ferriss Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:19:34 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/#comment-55805 Hi Jason and Lisa, Of course! Go right ahead. Thanks for the kind words, and please just credit me and this blog if you can. Best, Tim Hi Jason and Lisa,

Of course! Go right ahead. Thanks for the kind words, and please just credit me and this blog if you can.

Best,

Tim

]]> By: Jason Fonceca http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/comment-page-1/#comment-55697 Jason Fonceca Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:17:46 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/#comment-55697 That was absolutely beautiful and brilliant to me, and much needed to be shared with the world. Thank you so much Tim, that really touched my heart. I've always felt similar, and my personal vision is strongly involved with creativity and the Generalist concept. Like Lisa, I'd also love to cite a line or two from this post in a book I'm writing, and if you prefer me not to, I totally respect that. Maximize peak experiences :) Awesome. That was absolutely beautiful and brilliant to me, and much needed to be shared with the world. Thank you so much Tim, that really touched my heart. I’ve always felt similar, and my personal vision is strongly involved with creativity and the Generalist concept.

Like Lisa, I’d also love to cite a line or two from this post in a book I’m writing, and if you prefer me not to, I totally respect that.

Maximize peak experiences :)
Awesome.

]]> By: Oleg Mokhov http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/comment-page-1/#comment-55126 Oleg Mokhov Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:54:00 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/#comment-55126 Sorry for the 2nd comment, forgot to add the Scott Adams link: <a href="http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/07/career-advice.html" rel="nofollow">http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/07/career-advice.html</a> Sorry for the 2nd comment, forgot to add the Scott Adams link:

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

]]> By: Oleg Mokhov http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/comment-page-1/#comment-55125 Oleg Mokhov Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:52:46 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/#comment-55125 ""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 <a></a> 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 “”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

]]> By: Barbara Saunders http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/comment-page-1/#comment-53743 Barbara Saunders Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:48:10 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/#comment-53743 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. 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.

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