Hold up for Range

What do bread baking, sculpting, mochi-making, weaving, leather crafting, tarot, massage, speed-reading, horseback riding, reiki, painting, calligraphy, kombucha brewing, punch needling, and cooking have in common? All of these are courses or workshops I have taken over the last few years. Many times friends have laughed at me when I announced I could not make plans because I had signed up for a course,? “you and your workshops …” (That list above could have gone on for much longer, trust me).

The word ‘amateur’ did not originate as an insult, but comes from the Latin word for a person who adores a particular endeavor. (Epstein)

I am not a master in any of these trades. I do enjoy most of them, and I keep up with some of them, constantly trying to improve my skills. Some I did only once - during the workshop or training - and never took up for myself. Would I consider those wasted times, wasted resources, wasted energy? Most definitely not. Every time I learned something new, often laughed at my clumsiness, and always did I meet interesting people with stories to share. I learned about myself in the process; what I like, what I don’t like, and what I am good at.?

The ability to apply knowledge broadly comes from broad training (Epstein)

This month’s book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” by David Epstein is a decree for more exploration, more learning, and less pressure on hyperspecialization from an early age. Obviously, music to my ears. This book was not just a confirmation of that though, as it showcases through copious research studies the need for both specialists and generalists. However, the focus in our society has shifted too much to the former, and it would behoove us to celebrate and accommodate the latter more.?

Years ago, when my team went through a restructuring, the team had to be split up into specialists and generalists. In my next 1:1 with my manager, I made it very clear I did not want to be considered for a specialist role. My manager immediately agreed, and we never spoke of it again. It did make me wonder … should I have wanted a specialist role? What is so noteworthy about what I do? How do I set myself apart from the rest, if what I am doing is considered general knowledge? It is a ‘generalist’, so can not everybody do this??

It is a stream of thoughts that has come up throughout the years. Pondering those thoughts, I also listened to many episodes of Maya Shankar’s “A Slight Change of Plans” podcast this month. Maya herself went through quite a few changes: set up to be a classical violinist, she switched to a scientific study after an injury that stopped her from playing. A few years in, she discovered that researching was not really her thing, and she found her place in the Obama White House to lead a team of Behavioral Scientists. Now she creates this podcast, and works as a senior director of behavioral economics at Google. Changes of plans, indeed!?

What I love in her interviews is how she so expertly displays how future plans are part of our identity. When those plans change (either by choice or force) it can create an identity crisis that would throw many for a loop, but that her interviewees have embraced, often to enhance and uplift their lives.?

To tie this back in with “Range”: it is never too late to change. Epstein flashes this out through many examples; in our society people are made to choose a specialization early on, and to stick with it to get ahead: up and up the ladder goes. Our system is not set up to take into consideration “match quality”, or the degree of fit between the work someone does and the person they are (what they are good at and what they enjoy). Because, simply said, when we have to choose, we just do not know yet who we are. Couple this with a negative reaction to ‘quitting’, and people tend to just stick it out.

There are many cases where this results in people with highly successful careers, yet feeling unfulfilled. What we chose to do when we were 22 (or even 16) does not have to reflect what we want to do, and who we are at 30, 40, or 60. Interestingly, while we are all quick to recognize how much we have changed over the years, we believe we will not change much in the future. This holds true for teenagers to senior citizens alike.?

We are works in progress claiming to be finished (Epstein)

We do not stay the same. So why should our long-term goals? Setting up long-term goals of course provides a direction, but they do not allow for the curveballs that life will throw at us. We learn as we go along, by doing. Epstein argues that at some point, we all do specialize in one way or another. So, in a world where you cannot go a day without finding a ‘hack’ for better, quicker, more effective living, it makes sense that we want to specialize as soon as possible. But there is value to roaming, by accumulating pieces of knowledge in different fields, and the ability to build bridges between them. And there is no way to hack your way around that, but just by experimenting, learning, exploring, and a little bit of luck.

Specialization is a straightforward path: you choose it, and you go. Roaming is less specific, and therefore more complicated: how do you measure you are on the right track if you do not even know where the track is leading to? And so, naturally, this path will take you longer. And that is not something our “go, go, go” society necessarily appreciates.?

You don’t even know what other parts of yourself could exist which you have yet to tap into (Maya Shankar)

So, how do you approach this? I am not saying that you have to throw out your long-term goals (and neither is Epstein), but it would benefit many to allow for a little bit more flexibility in them. Short-term planning becomes the name of the game. You are who you are, right now. As you cannot predict how change will impact you in the future, plan for the immediate to short-term, and readjust as you see fit to ensure that match-quality that will set you apart and will bring along a sense of fulfillment so you can live the life you want to. And, once you are more clear on that, you can re-affirm your long-term goal.??

A word of comfort

In my coaching practice, I often hear “I’m too old to go back to school”, or “I missed the boat on that, so this is what I have to work with”, “I am a beginner, and so far behind”. While I do work on acceptance, I would also challenge that thinking. Too old according to whom? Who cares what your neighbor thinks about it? And remember, learning something new today is going to be easier than learning it next year. So why not take advantage of that??

Compare yourself to yourself yesterday, not to younger people who aren’t you. Everyone progresses at a different rate, so don’t let anyone else make you feel behind (Epstein)?

There is a full chapter in the book that favors slow, challenging, frustrating, learning. Frustrating in the short term, as in the longer term it turns out this way of learning creates knowledge that sticks and is more flexible: it is easier to apply the learning in new or different situations or fields. You do not have to be on top of the field a week after you start a new endeavor. (To me, that is comforting knowledge. I am trying to learn to speak Portuguese, and it is going slower than I want it to. But now I appreciate it for how it goes: frustrating in the short term, with a benefit for years and years to come!)

My invitation to you

Play! What is something you have been wanting to do, investigate or explore, but have stopped yourself for the fear of looking ‘silly’, out of place, or because you would feel like a rookie while everyone else is already an expert? Embrace being an amateur in the true sense of the word!?

My challenge to you: find a workshop, a short course, a book, a podcast, or something that will get you started in the field of your interest. Fail at it, be excellent at it; the result does not matter, as the focus is on the experience of learning something new. And let me know how it went??

In June I will be reading “The art of Impossible” by Steven Kotler.?Will you read along?