You know what’s always bugged me about the phrase jack of all trades, master of none?
The master of none. There are two reasons it bugs me:
- It’s true and I’m the perfect example of it.
- In today’s world, it’s irrelevant.
Being a Generalist Is No Longer a Bad Thing…
In the Middle Ages, if you only sorta knew how to repair a horse shoe, weren’t funny enough to be the king’s jester and just half-decent at farming, you were screwed.
Sometimes literally.
Today, if you know how to work a video camera, are kinda funny and can edit a little bit, you win.
We still need specialists, but more and more, specialized work becomes commoditized, because at one point, a robot will do better heart surgery than a heart surgeon.
…But We Haven’t Received the Message Yet
Luckily, some people work hard to spread the word that being a generalist is not a bad thing.
People like Emilie Wapnick, who coined the term multipotentialite. Her TED talk about the topic has been viewed 4,000,000+ times.
And yet, look at the top comment:
If you’re a generalist, a polymath, a renaissance person, a multipotentialite, or whatever you call yourself: we need you.
The world needs jacks of all trades. And it also needs an updated version of the phrase.
How about jack of all trades, master of all?