I disagree completely. Mastery necessarily implies a mastery of the basics, but it is so much more. A master chef knows how flavors, textures, and colors inter

I disagree completely. Mastery necessarily implies a mastery of the basics, but it is so much more. A master chef knows how flavors, textures, and colors interact to build a food experience much greater than the sum of its parts. A master carpenter knows how the wood she is working with will behave as it is worked with and finished, so the joints and reinforcements are completely hidden within the aesthetics of the piece itself. (I can't speak to accounting, but I would imagine there is a similar difference.) The point being that, once the basics are mastered, there is a completely new level of complexity (and therefore creativity) that can be managed. The true masters are the ones who are one level above everybody else who is "merely" great.