Is it better to master one skill or be a jack of all trades?

[Destiny]

Which do you think is better? And explain the reason of your choice

 

[gromit]

If you can do one thing really well, do that.

If you cannot, better to have a diverse set of skills. But be above-average at a handful of them.

 

[five sounds]

Which do you think is better? And explain the reason of your choice

whatever comes more naturally. it's my experience that some people are naturally inclined toward mastery while others are naturally inclined toward variety. you'll be happier and more successful working with the way you are than against it. i think there's room in this world for both.

 

[miss fortune]

as said above, whatever works for you


for me personally, I like to have some variety to my knowledge because if I know a bit about a lot of things I can improvise with what I do know... however, I do have a few hobbies that I delve into farther than others

 

[Qlip]

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein

I like this quote because it validates me. But, I do feel that at the least people should attempt to be well-rounded and have an understanding of the world around them. Beyond that, follow your passion.

 

[1487610420]

Pareto principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Study Destroys Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 Rule - Business Insider

 

[Polaris]

I'm generally very focused in my pursuits, but the more I branch out, the more I can see that to master one skill, you must master other, apparently unrelated skills. The things you learn in one area will often tell you things about another area that you never would have discovered if you hadn't tried something different. That's especially true if you're doing something like writing plays, which calls on the full range of your experience, and not so true if you're trying to do something like master peeling potatoes.

 

[Chthonic]

I'm not a one trick pony and thats the way I like it. I may not compose a symphony in my lifetime but I will do the rest okay. In the current economic climate I think specialists can both have an advantage and be incredibly vulnerable. It only takes one little innovation to make someone redundant these days. If you've invested 10yrs in a specialisation that later becomes overtaken by technology then you'll have to start from ground zero. Scary place to be.

 

[á´…eparted]

 

[Hitoshi-San]

Sure, you'll always have one thing that you're just meant to do, but other things that you enjoy doing. I think you should progress in whatever you like to do and become really good at it, but if your heart is absolutely stuck on that one talent, that should be the one you pursue first.

 

[limerick]

i do it all, man. boys & girls i do it all & i mean every single thing. i've never been one to shy away from an interest. if i get an itch to draw a picture, i'll take all day if necessary to master that picture. i've mastered pictures, cartoons, sketches, paintings-- & that's just in the visual arts field. i don't mean literally "master"- i just mean figure out my own way to do it. you might think my paintings suck (they're abstract). you might say i should put up the paint set & go back to my day job if not just go back to school completely. likewise you might say my piano playing is bad. i can play on the piano for 2 hours, almost without stopping. but in my worldview, that's all i need. bash around on the piano, bash around on a paint set. i just get ideas to do different things & then i have to do them. once i figure out my own way to do it, it's like i've "mastered" it. so i consider myself pretty versatile.

 

[Elfboy]

master one thing first, something which is demand and from which you can demand a high salary. after that, diversify your skill set and become a unique contribution to a company which will make you difficult to replace. alternatives, attain a "horizontal monopoly" of sorts on an industry and start your own firm.

 

[baccheion]

It's better to be well-rounded. If you want to have a "thing," then focus on one thing more than others. If you only do one thing exclusively, you'll likely become one-dimensional and may find the one thing you focused on didn't have that much to it, and/or you'd have been even better at it had you broadened your perspective.

 

[Coriolis]

as said above, whatever works for you


for me personally, I like to have some variety to my knowledge because if I know a bit about a lot of things I can improvise with what I do know... however, I do have a few hobbies that I delve into farther than others

My opinion is close to this. Time is limited, and developing one skill or talent takes time away from developing others. We can therefore only achieve true mastery in a few things during our lives. Beyond that, it good to have a basic level of skill in a broad range of activities, just to be able to live independently in the world and be reasonably prepared for emergencies. This would include things like basic cooking, sewing, gardening, home repairs and using standard tools, car repairs, first aid, singing/music, writing - at least expository, some fitness or athletic pursuit, computer skills, understanding of history and the political system in which you live, etc. Some people would probably add hunting or firearms use/safety to this, or other things, partly dependent on where you live and what your "real" job or career is.

 

[Eska]

One is not objectively better than the other, it's a matter of perspective.

One could argue that being a "jack of all trades" is a mastery in itself.

I'd rather be a master in one skill, considering that skill is of great interest to me, I could build my environment and envision my future accordingly, and there's the notion of change and influence, where achieving that level of expertise will open up a world past the one of exploration/regurgitation of data.

For instance,

If I study [...] to the point of merely knowing the basics, my knowledge and understanding will be limited to discussions on that level.

If I study [...] to "it's fullest", my knowledge and understanding will allow me to challenge it's limits and directly be influential on it's future, I'll be apt to explore new possibilities/new theories/new research, that hasn't been done before.

Of course, merely knowing the basics doesn't actually prevent you from exploring new theories based on the current information you hold, although, it is limited to that particular branch of knowledge, as opposed to someone who has mastered it, who has a better understanding and has more information to exploit in order to reach new heights in that field.

 

[baccheion]

My opinion is close to this. Time is limited, and developing one skill or talent takes time away from developing others. We can therefore only achieve true mastery in a few things during our lives. Beyond that, it good to have a basic level of skill in a broad range of activities, just to be able to live independently in the world and be reasonably prepared for emergencies. This would include things like basic cooking, sewing, gardening, home repairs and using standard tools, car repairs, first aid, singing/music, writing - at least expository, some fitness or athletic pursuit, computer skills, understanding of history and the political system in which you live, etc. Some people would probably add hunting or firearms use/safety to this, or other things, partly dependent on where you live and what your "real" job or career is.

There is usually a lot of overlap even when things don't seem related and that allows many things to be learned/improved/refined at the same time if you work at the right things.