The surprising part about Roger Federer’s greatness – as a kid he didn’t focus on tennis. He played a range of different sports – skateboarding, swimming, soccer. Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialised World. Sports journalist David Epstein uses Roger’s experience as an example of the under-appreciated benefits of delaying specialisation to accumulate unique experiences. “In a world that incentivises, even demands hyper-specialisation, we need more Roger’s. People who start broad, embrace diverse experiences & perspectives while they progress.”
Provides a good framework for understanding why polymaths are so important for innovation. In kind environments, where the goal is to re-create prior performance with as little deviation as possible, teams of specialists work superbly. But, when it’s a challenging environment, our job isn’t always to repeat a procedure. By definition, it’s to do something not done before. Innovate.
When researchers study great innovators, they find thinkers with an ability to connect disparate pieces of information from many sources, like having a lot of apps open in our brain at the same time. So, we need a healthy balance of both frogs & birds to succeed in a work environment. An inspiring read that shares inspiring analogies & incredible anecdotes.
