Jack of all Trades Vs Master of One

We have all heard the age old saying, “Jack of all trades and master of none”. This means that if we are someone, who is into too many different things, we will not be able to be a master of any.

And so the debate is: Which is superior at work? Being a Jack-of-all-trades or a Master of one? Generalist or Specialist? What are you?

Generalists have transferrable skills, which make them more adaptable to any jobs. They can easily a job as they have cross functional skills. Their strength lies in their versatility. However, these people don’t t earn much.

Whereas, the specialists have developed specialized skill, that makes them a master or expert in their field. They are highly paid and highly sought after, as they have a proven track record. It means a lot of hard work and sacrifice.

There is a nice quote, by Bruce Lee, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” This shows the power of expertise. In the book outliers, authored by Malcolm Gladwell, he says that, it takes roughly 10,000 hours of Practice to achieve mastery in a field.

Even in the Corporate world today, we often hear this phrase, “Focus on your core competencies and outsource the res.” The new age success mantra seems to be “Inch wide and mile deep”, which stresses on the importance of focus.

Great inventors, scientists, doctors, performing artists, sportsmen, noble laureates and outstanding achievers belong to this category.

So, idealistically speaking the world seems to have more respect for the people who are experts in their field.

While I admire such people, I also think if these people live a fulfilling life or rather a holistic life. Do they miss on the fun and excitement of life? For a person like me, who believes in YOLO philosophy (You Only Live Once), it feels that if we have only one life to live, are we not missing out on so many different beautiful dimensions of life, by just staying focused on one thing?

We all know of Leonardo da Vinci, as a famous renaissance painter. But how many of us know that he was a polymath. A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of subject areas. His areas of interest included invention, drawing, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history and cartography.

I understand that, this is a special talent and not everyone can aspire this. Still, it is a reaffirmation of the human potential to be good at many things at the same time. This makes me to ponder, whether there could be a middle way, where a person can specialize in one area and at the same time try his hand on other things, and develop a cross functional capability, if not expertise, which will make him more adaptable to the dynamically changing world.

While our career growth depends upon our ability to focus, my question is whether everyone can achieve the same level of success in a particular field? Despite the best of efforts, “Can everyone be the No:1 in their field? If it is not possible, why stress over it? The world needs both generalists and specialists. So, everyone will find their own space to grow and we don’t have to worry if we are not able to be a specialist, but still we can do our best to be good at whatever we do.

We can aspire to be a “Jack of all trades and Master of One”. This may not give us the outstanding success that will put us on the pages of World History, but probably a moderate success in all dimensions of life, which will give us more rounded and peaceful Life.

 D. Senthil Kannan,

  Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

  Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

  Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com