There is a commonly misquoted phrase that says, “A jack of all trades is a master of none.” However, the full quote attributed to William Shakespeare actually reads, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often times better than a master of one.”

Possessing skills in multiple areas is valuable. Today it is even more valuable than in the past.  Learning even a little bit about business, philosophy, physics, coding, economics, gardening, ranching, construction, etc. may put you in a position of immediate value in almost any group.

Become a T-shaped person.  This is a person who has specialized knowledge and skills in a particular area, as well as the desire and ability to make connections across different disciplines. 

I have personally found that expanding my learning in other broad areas of interest have made my expertise in medicine, health and diet so much more rewarding. It is why I have my own ranch with horses, goats, chickens, ducks and dogs. It is why I’ve studied European Swordsmanship and Martial Arts. It was the driver for getting trained in hypnotherapy. And, it is why I love riding motorcycles. All of these interests have played a role in deepening my medical expertise.

“Like chess masters and firefighters, pre-modern villagers relied on things being the same tomorrow as they were yesterday. They were extremely well prepared for what they had experienced before, and extremely poorly equipped for everything else. Their very thinking was highly specialized in a manner that the modern world has been telling us is increasingly obsolete. They were perfectly capable of learning from experience, but failed at learning without experience.

“And, that is what a rapidly changing, wicked world demands, conceptual reasoning skills that can connect new ideas and work across contexts. Faced with any problem they had not directly experienced before, the remote villagers were completely lost.

“That is not an option for us. The more constrained and repetitive a challenge, the more likely it will be automated, while great rewards will accrue to those who can take conceptual knowledge from one problem or domain and apply it in an entirely new one” (David Epstein, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World).

It is possible that in an earlier world, where change occurs slowly, specialization represents and provides a significant competitive advantage. However, in today’s ever-changing world, integrating your specialist skills with a variety of other skills becomes a new and powerful competitive advantage.

In a world where you have the freedom to explore the things you’re curious about, don’t limit yourself to just one. Definitely be an expert in one particular field, but don’t be afraid to go out and learn about topics that aren’t directly related to your specialty.

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”