Finally, not a classic nor an old book. This caught my attention after i read the summary from Blinkist. Love this book! It makes so much sense. Do read it if you have time.
It starts off explaining why the majority of people generally feel that one needs to be a master of “something” in order to be successful in life. Examples used to back up successful stories that originated from early specialisation include the Tiger Woods’ story. When more of such stories are shared, it is natural to feel like a loser if one does not specialise from an early age. I recall someone telling me that if you do not know what you want to do by early 20s, the outcome is set and the game is lost.
What is lacking in such success stories is the understanding of the context (environment). In the example of chess games, the environment is kind, in the sense that success can be achieved by repeating the same set of training over time to increase the probability of obtaining a similar result with more efficiency and less time used. The environment that we are exposed to these days however, is wicked rather than kind. This is where being a “jack of all trades” can come in helpful.
When one has spent a lot of time specialising in one single thing, it can backfire and stifle the learning process. Examples cited are musicians who had meddled with at least three instruments before settling down on one, are more successful than the ones sticking to the same single instrument since day one.
True learning has to be slow and tough and is very hard to prove or justify within a short time. The knowledge is stored somewhere and then it turns up useful in unexpected ways at a later time. It reminds me of effective marketing which is hardly trackable in terms of tangibles in the short term. Good results can only be seen or felt over time. Parents should read Chapter 4 and understand what is truly beneficial for their children and choose between short term results or long term benefits.
People always say “think outside the box” but how can anyone think outside the box if all your life you have been specialising in the same box? We don’t really know what we don’t know, right? Innovations are born out of applying a/an known/old knowledge in unimaginable areas. How can it be possible to crisscross ideas if one stays as a master of a single domain and knows little about other stuff? The exposure is essential. Trials and errors are necessary.
There is nothing wrong in being a master, just that it would not make sense to stay in the same path for the sake of staying. “Winners never quit and quitters never win”. One can never be a winner if there is always tendency to quit on a bad day. But what if one quits to pursue a better road? Is that really a loser? To have courage to start zero on unfamiliar ground?
In order to become better versions of ourselves, we may need to experiment with different things, drop the usual tools and step out of the box (specialisation). Never mind if the world does not understand. The learning is yours and yours alone.
One sentence of advice from this book: Don’t feel behind as all life is an experiment.
vary 