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Discussion on: Be good at one thing, not average at everything

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hkly profile image
hkly

I disagree with the title. This age-old saying is often misquoted, but is appropriate for how I feel:

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

However, I do agree with not spreading your focus too thin and avoiding overwhelming yourself with trying to learn everything all at once.

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jess profile image
Jess Lee

Wow, that is a big misquote! I had no idea. Thanks for sharing -- the negatives connotations of 'Jack of all trades, master of none' has always haunted me a little. Really happy to see the positive side of it, now armed with more context.

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Piotr Suplat

How come negative? I always thought about it as positive. I actually used that quote in few inerviews (that lovely question of "how would you describe yourself?" ) and often got the job because of it.

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Lewis Cowles

I actually used that quote in few inerviews

Which means the jobs changed often, which long-term is unreasonable. You'll probably find the people that liked it had very little attention to detail.

I'm an unashamed generalist, I make that work for me but I wouldn't like someone saying they were a jack of all trades. Underpinning any generalist should be a good grounding in the core of problems they explore. It's okay to be ignorant of new ground if it's not relevant. It's not okay to be ignorant of the basics.