In my somewhat brief stint as an “American worker” I’ve noticed a fatal flaw adapted by my generation (and by others, but maybe epitomized by the me, myself and I’s). It’s one that I too am guilty of, because outwardly it seems to be a wonderfully practical thing.
I’m talking about that Jack of All Trades mentality that sometime gets misnomered as “Renaissance Man” that plagues and perpetuates our independent spirit. The idea being that one can be great at many things; that an individual can single-handedly think, build and thrive on his or her own. (OK, maybe “fatal flaw” is an over-generalization or frankly, an unnecessary outcry, but the heart of the matter can be seen running ramped throughout the current workforce, in my most humble of opinions)
What lays in the wake is a set of individuals who are good at many things, but with that sought “greatness” never attained. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a person or two out there that has this prowess, the ability to be great at everything they do. A true “entrepreneur” who can lead, manage, and works at everything better than the next John Q. Worker. Oddly enough, you never hear from this guy (if you have somebody in mind who fits this mold, please feel free to leave their name below, and no, you can’t reference Da Vinci) .
We have case studies for this kind of thinking: Whole college curriculums based on being good at everything. Attend a university course on entrepreneurship and you find the building blocks of creating a business. The ‘how-tos” on how to successfully manage and perpetuate your great idea, but with a substantial lack of effort on concentrating on your God-given ability. I’m a frim believer that great companies, for that matter, great ideas are spawned from the experts, the specialists that dedicate their lives to a common need or goal, and surround themselves with the best people in necessary supplemental fields.
You can manage the books, manage your people and secure financing better than the rest of them, but without being that expert, that specialist in your field, that idea is doomed from the get go.
I had a few thoughts that echoed this sentiment a while back, and I still stringently believe in the need to become self-actualized.
So what are you great at and what might be worth of letting go (to free up time to expand on your greatness, of course)?
Man, how I envy the engineers and architects.
Peace.
mjb
at the same time we can’t just ONLY know our own field. As a marketer or PR person i have to understand enough of finance or IT or operations to be able to talk to them in their terms to win support for my project. For example, lets say I come up with a great project that’s going to make us a lot of money but the gains won’t be realized for a long time and the IT portions aren’t necessarily feasible. I have to understand what finance is saying when they talk about NPV and understand what other IT options i have.
You should absolutely specialize and focus on being very good at a particular topic, but you have to understand more then just your own field.
Or to put it this way: Would you rather know a lot about a little or a little about a lot?
And boom goes the dynamite.
The question is, how do you use your expertise to get to the next level? If we do one thing for too long, become an expert our field, we can’t expect to “sell” anyone on our ability to do anything else. If we want to be the Senior Director of X for the rest of our natural lives, we need to go the expert route. But.. if we want to do great things.. lead organizations.. use your expertise early in your career and “cross-over” when the time is right. Just my $0.02!
@isaacbearg Absolutely. My fear rests completely in the complacency that surrounds “having to know” a little about each business unit. I think we run the risk of “thinking” we know what our IT staff is telling us, but with no real understanding of the underlying principles it leads to *possible* negative consequence.
@McDago Dynamite.
@Mark I think that mentality resounds today. As I’m sure many of the CEOs of great companies had to put down their guard at one point, and leave behind their “specialty” for the greater good of the group or individual. I just want to make sure we don’t end up with a generation of self-proclaimed “CEOs” (key word being, self-proclaimed)
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