added by Keely Adler · updated 2y ago
The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled
- Many people seem to do work which is unrelated to their area of study or their prior roles. But dig a little deeper and it’s often the case that knowledge from the past informs their present. Marcel Proust put it best: “the real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” Interdisciplinary knowledge is what all... See more
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- A generalist is a person who is a competent jack of all trades, with lots of divergent useful skills and capabilities; A specialist is someone with distinct knowledge and skills related to a single area.
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- Many great thinkers are (or were) generalizing specialists. Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Kepler, and Boyd excelled by branching out from their core competencies. These men knew how to learn fast, picking up the key ideas and then returning to their specialties. Unlike their forgotten peers, they didn’t continue studying one area past the point of diminis... See more
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- Organizations, industries, and the economy need both generalists and specialists. And when we lack the right balance, it creates problems.
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- When their particular skills are in demand, specialists experience substantial upsides. The scarcity of their expertise means higher salaries, less competition, and more leverage.
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- As you go up the ranks of the organization, your specialty becomes less and less important, and yet the tendency is to hold on to it longer and longer. If it’s the only subject or skill you know better than anything else, you tend to see it everywhere. Even where it doesn’t exist. Every problem is a nail and you just happen to have a hammer.
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- Understanding and staying within their circle of competence is even more important for specialists. A specialist who is outside of their circle of competence and doesn’t know it is incredibly dangerous.
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- Should we become specialists or polymaths? Is there a balance we should pursue? There is no single answer. Whether we’re conscious of this or not, it’s also a decision we have to make and re-make over and over again. Every day, we have to decide where to invest our time — do we become better at what we do or learn something new?
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago
- A generalist species can live in a range of environments, utilizing whatever resources are available; A specialist species needs particular conditions to survive.
from The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled by Shane Parrish
Keely Adler added 2y ago