What We’re Reading: Range by David Epstein

Have you bought into—and considered incontestable—the ubiquitous “10,000 Hour Rule?”

This rule was popularized several years ago and says that 10,000 hours of focused, repetitive work in any field is the key to becoming “world class.”

In other words, early and pronounced specialization is the key to success in any given undertaking.

Is it truth?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Epstein challenges that conventional wisdom in Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, and he does so with an entertaining, thought-provoking, page-turning style.

The book is enjoyable and just fun to read.

I’m not going to review the book here, other than those just few preceding paragraphs. I’m not really going to summarize his findings, either. Instead, I just encourage you to give it a read.

At least one of Epstein’s challenges is regarding the idea of the head start. Accepted wisdom argues that, if you don’t start early and focus on a given skill , you’re forever going to be behind other pros in your field. It sounds like it might be true, so we tend to accept it and try to live life accordingly.

But what if I discover, after that initial head start, that what I’m doing is not for me? It’s just not me. Instead, I discover another field that I’d like to enter instead. Am I doomed to be behind?

What do you even call that? (Besides assuming you’re an indecisive potential quitter?)

Here’s a new term I learned while reading this book: “match quality.” This term is used by economists to describe the degree of fit between the work someone does and who they are as a person.

What if you simply do not know what your ideal match quality is as a young child or teenager—right when you’re being told by everyone around that, if you don’t practice this one sport or instrument, you’ll never succeed with it?

Our culture might tell you, “quitters never win, winners never quit.”

Small spoiler: this book is going to challenge that. In fact, it’s going to turn that trite aphorism on its head.

You’ll find engaging stories in Range from a variety of disciplines and countries in fields ranging from science to music to sports.

Epstein makes the case that, when our world comprises only specialists, it can leave us, as a culture, in a potential predicament. There are problems that are simply not going to be solved: big problems. Cure-for-cancer and cure-for-Alzheimer’s type problems.

Range goes way beyond a philosophical debate often relegated to the purview professors and thought leaders who need to write books and papers. Instead, Epstein exposes how precarious ideas can be. In some ways, I see connections between this book and Loonshots by Safi Bahcall, which I wrote about a month ago.

Loonshots  talks about nurturing a structure that is an incubator, facilitator, and greenhouse for outrageous-sounding ideas that, when they come to fruition, change our world.

Range talks about the danger of pervasive specialization creating a culture where answers cannot be found—because the right questions are not even being asked. The questions are not being asked because narrow specialization doesn’t afford the type of wide thinking that leads to those questions.

The result: we may be delaying the ultimate solution to problems that affect us all.  

A personal fear I continue to have is this: what if we are missing the cure to Alzheimer’s because a large pharma company is simply not structured in a way that nurtures innovative ideas, and also because those working diligently on the cure are so specialized that they literally cannot see the forest for the trees?

In my own career trajectory, I can say I’ve largely been a specialist. Within the field of accounting, for decades I focused on taxation. Within taxation, for a stretch of time I tended to focus on oil & gas taxation.

Over the past several years, we have expanded our firm’s service offering to holistic, integrated financial planning for individuals, entrepreneurs and families. That has forced me to become far more generalized in my knowledge and practice, and I’ve found that I love it! Seeing our clients holistically (as opposed to just another tax return to churn out) has allowed our firm to address concerns and questions regarding those things keeping our clients awake at night.

Range doesn’t discourage specialization, but rather emphasizes that you need general knowledge in multiple areas both inside and outside your profession as well. And, of course, you still need some very focused specialists you can touch base and connect with. I’ve observed that exactly be the case on our practice over the past several years.

The result for us: we are better able to serve our clients. That’s important to me.

Another book I read recently, Start With Why by Simon Sinek, has pushed me to define and understand my “why.” Why do it? Why get out of bed and come to work each day?

Grappling with and understanding that ties very much into the concepts and ideas addressed in Range—both in my personal life and the continuing development of our practice. Range is not only informative; it’s inspirational.

Who should read Range? Anyone who’s curious. Curious about life, about yourself, about people, about your profession. If you have a feeling you’re not matched properly with what you do, don’t be afraid to entertain that thought and get to know why you’re feeling that way.

And, once you understand, don’t be afraid to risk change.