Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly.

For a given amount of material, learning is most efficient in the long run when it is really inefficient in the short run. If you are doing too well when you test yourself, the simple antidote is to wait longer before practicing the same material again, so that the test will be more difficult when you do. Frustration is not a sign you are not

“If you’re working on well-defined and well-understood problems, specialists work very, very well,” he told me. “As ambiguity and uncertainty increases, which is the norm with systems problems, breadth becomes increasingly important.”

“We discover the possibilities by doing, by trying new activities, building new networks, finding new role models.” We learn who we are in practice, not in theory.

And he refused to specialize in anything, preferring to keep an eye on the overall estate rather than any of its parts. . . . And Nikolay’s management produced the most brilliant results. —Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

In those domains, which involved human behavior and where patterns did not clearly repeat, repetition did not cause learning. Chess, golf, and firefighting are exceptions, not the rule.

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

Flynn’s conclusion: “There is no sign that any department attempts to develop [anything] other than narrow critical competence.”

“that sheer amount of lesson or practice time is not a good indicator of exceptionality.”