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Interestingly, full proverb is allegedly: "Jack of all trades and master of none, is oftentimes better than a master of one." Being a generalist usually helps

Interestingly, full proverb is allegedly: "Jack of all trades and master of none, is oftentimes better than a master of one." Being a generalist usually helps with two things: a) It is a testament to your ability to get up to the speed on a different topic - vital in business world. Most businesses want to hire useful people who can find analogies and draw trends, with a curiosity for solutions outside a narrow sphere. b) There is an implicit requirement to be curious and step out of your "comfort zone" in order to hit the ground running and get started on another domain. This makes you far more nimble, flexible, and open to new ideas and changes. Good for both life and work.

the_only_law 4y ago
I spent my last job search, getting resume screen-out rejection after rejection only to end up settling for something I didn’t really want. My problem is that I don’t look like a generalist, I look like an incompetent. And that’s because a vast majority of my knowledge and skills have come from outside my professional career. In fact, if I’m being honest a lot of my career has involved dicking around for months on end waiting for some bureaucratic machine to make a decision only to repeat that process again and again. So I ended with at least solid foundational knowledge in a lot of subjects/domains, but it doesn’t matter because my resume is not something describing my abilities/knowledge, but really just formal experience: meaning none of my generalist or specialist knowledge is ever highlighted. Most anything I know about anything has been from me hacking and breaking and fixing computers and their software, not anything a resume would tell you.
xaxaxb 4y ago
Great answer! I actually didn't know the whole proverb.
zikduruqe 4y ago
"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." - Lazarus Long in "Time Enough For Love" by Robert A. Heinlein
- eesmith 4y ago
  Ever noticed that "change a diaper" is one of the easiest parts about raising children? Lazarus Long raised many children - odd that he would single out that one. Heinlein, on the other hand, did not.
  - dpeck 4y ago
    Yeah, but if you don’t do it right it takes a long time (relative to the 30s-1m if you do it right) and you’ll have a mess on you’re hands… or floor… afterwards. I look at the pithy little bits in this quote as being standins for the larger acts that they’re part of, and wouldn’t read too much into it.
    - eesmith 4y ago
      Still less than the 16-20 years of raising a child. What is the larger act of "butcher a hog"? Or of planning an invasion? Personally, I think sewing would be more useful to more people than the ability to conn a ship.
eesmith 4y ago
While I find sites making that alleged claim, I'm having a hard time tracking down its veracity. I've found several examples of it used in the 1800s, like: 1) The Salt-Cellars (1889) - https://archive.org/details/saltcellarsbein02spurgoog/page/n39/mode/2up?q=jack https://archive.org/details/saltcellarsbein02spurgoog/page/n... > A man of many professions has but few profits. / A man of many trades begs his bread on Sunday. / A man of many trades lives on short commons. > He is so deficient and inefficient that he never gets on. Being Jack-of -all-trades he is master of none, and can do nothing properly. As soon as he is known his customers are gone. 2) The English review, or, An abstract of English and foreign literature, v 9, (1788) - https://archive.org/details/englishreviewor11unkngoog/page/310/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/englishreviewor11unkngoog/page/3... > If every man take the advice of every one of these benevolent essayists, every man, according to the proverb, will become a Jack of all trades but master of none. 3) An impartial and comprehensive view of the present state of Great Britain, containing ... [rest of the very long title omitted] (1797) - https://archive.org/details/impartialcompreh00keituoft/page/68/mode/2up?q=trades https://archive.org/details/impartialcompreh00keituoft/page/... > Instead of being Jack of all trades, but master of none, every one of John's servants became very expert at his particular employment. He had now the best ploughs, carts and wagons in all the country, and also the best ploughmen and wagoners. His weavers manufactured his wool into the finest cloth; and John derived great advantages from their industry. None of them had the longer version you listed, and that last example implies it's better to have servants who are each a master of one (and often different ones) than Jacks-of-all-trades.

the_only_law 4y ago

I spent my last job search, getting resume screen-out rejection after rejection only to end up settling for something I didn’t really want. My problem is that I don’t look like a generalist, I look like an incompetent. And that’s because a vast majority of my knowledge and skills have come from outside my professional career. In fact, if I’m being honest a lot of my career has involved dicking around for months on end waiting for some bureaucratic machine to make a decision only to repeat that process again and again. So I ended with at least solid foundational knowledge in a lot of subjects/domains, but it doesn’t matter because my resume is not something describing my abilities/knowledge, but really just formal experience: meaning none of my generalist or specialist knowledge is ever highlighted. Most anything I know about anything has been from me hacking and breaking and fixing computers and their software, not anything a resume would tell you.

xaxaxb 4y ago

Great answer! I actually didn't know the whole proverb.

zikduruqe 4y ago

"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." - Lazarus Long in "Time Enough For Love" by Robert A. Heinlein

eesmith 4y ago
Ever noticed that "change a diaper" is one of the easiest parts about raising children? Lazarus Long raised many children - odd that he would single out that one. Heinlein, on the other hand, did not.
- dpeck 4y ago
  Yeah, but if you don’t do it right it takes a long time (relative to the 30s-1m if you do it right) and you’ll have a mess on you’re hands… or floor… afterwards. I look at the pithy little bits in this quote as being standins for the larger acts that they’re part of, and wouldn’t read too much into it.
  - eesmith 4y ago
    Still less than the 16-20 years of raising a child. What is the larger act of "butcher a hog"? Or of planning an invasion? Personally, I think sewing would be more useful to more people than the ability to conn a ship.

eesmith 4y ago

While I find sites making that alleged claim, I'm having a hard time tracking down its veracity. I've found several examples of it used in the 1800s, like: 1) The Salt-Cellars (1889) - https://archive.org/details/saltcellarsbein02spurgoog/page/n39/mode/2up?q=jack https://archive.org/details/saltcellarsbein02spurgoog/page/n... > A man of many professions has but few profits. / A man of many trades begs his bread on Sunday. / A man of many trades lives on short commons. > He is so deficient and inefficient that he never gets on. Being Jack-of -all-trades he is master of none, and can do nothing properly. As soon as he is known his customers are gone. 2) The English review, or, An abstract of English and foreign literature, v 9, (1788) - https://archive.org/details/englishreviewor11unkngoog/page/310/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/englishreviewor11unkngoog/page/3... > If every man take the advice of every one of these benevolent essayists, every man, according to the proverb, will become a Jack of all trades but master of none. 3) An impartial and comprehensive view of the present state of Great Britain, containing ... [rest of the very long title omitted] (1797) - https://archive.org/details/impartialcompreh00keituoft/page/68/mode/2up?q=trades https://archive.org/details/impartialcompreh00keituoft/page/... > Instead of being Jack of all trades, but master of none, every one of John's servants became very expert at his particular employment. He had now the best ploughs, carts and wagons in all the country, and also the best ploughmen and wagoners. His weavers manufactured his wool into the finest cloth; and John derived great advantages from their industry. None of them had the longer version you listed, and that last example implies it's better to have servants who are each a master of one (and often different ones) than Jacks-of-all-trades.