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Jack of all trades

Benjamin Franklyn is known for the quote: Jack of all trades, master of one….
Or is he better known for the misquoted version: Jack of all trades, master of none?
Old Benjy came up with this in the wake of the industrial revolution. He foresaw a rapidly changing economy wherein one has to be agile in order to survive. He himself was the inventor of electricity (sort off) and of bi-focal lenses. He was a newspaper editor, a statesman and President of the USA.
Is it not 100 times more relevant today: to know something about everything, but everything a single thing?

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Permalink Reply by Ruth Tearle on November 30, 2009 at 12:29pm: I agree - to a certain point. In evolution we see that those able to adapt most - survive best.
And in business, the same applies. It is a wide range of skills that allows you to reinvent yourself, and adapt in a changing economy.

But the wide diversity of skills, has to be balanced with the need to be able to focus too. Constantly starting from the beginning in each new profession can be exhausting.

I think I have found a balance between the need for diversity and for focus by having a stable market - but then offering them more and more as I acquire more diverse skills, and mix and match them in differerent ways.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Deon C. Louw on November 30, 2009 at 12:38pm: Yea. You don’t reel them in with your wider knowledge of skills but your expertise in one.; ▶ Reply to This