You often see the edited version. But the whole saying is, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
Let’s talk about specializing versus diversifying.
Today, being a specialist has many benefits. You become the category expert and carve out a niche as the go-to solution provider for whatever you do.
That being said, putting all your eggs in one basket can be a long-term gamble. Especially when industries change quickly, the needs and desires of your customers can shift over time.
With technology changing constantly, it’s no wonder many are concerned about their future work prospects and what that means today for where to focus your time and effort.
Specializing benefits
Having expertise in one industry makes you desirable. People will seek you out for your solutions since you will have developed a reputation for one area or skill.
Becoming the best designer, illustrator, programmer, artist and so on in your category sets you apart.
This can take time to establish, but you can carve out a niche for yourself and stand out from a sea of others simply by investing time and effort into your craft.
The saying it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill rings true here.
Diversifying benefits
I’m not against specializing. But I am also very much for trying different things out too. These new areas inform and expand your understanding of your specialty.
As a business owner, you tend to wear many hats, from sales, administration, management, production, support, and various other roles and responsibilities that can distract you from growing or achieving your main goal.
Having a few skills that work well together makes you unstoppable. Whether through skill stacking or challenging yourself to learn something new.
Let’s say you only sell to the real estate industry and it suffers a 2-3 year downturn. Clients and customers stop buying and work dries up. That’s not a comfortable position to be in.
If you can cater to several industries with a solution, you are less likely to have issues here. It sounds obvious and yet it is essential to remember.
A hybrid approach
We often see the term “full stack.” Sometimes we use the word “unicorn”. My least favourite has to be “T-shaped.”
The point is that focus is essential. Overarching goals are necessary. But having a few skills you can utilize together that round out your abilities makes you an indispensable and productive professional that can cross the boundaries of any silos that exist in both an imaginary and absolute sense.
I’d argue that we need to be excellent at something and challenge ourselves to expand our horizons to add to our abilities to keep ourselves on our toes and move forward, which opens the door to new possibilities, realizing our full potential.
Keep your options open by adapting
Standing still is not an option today.
From economic stagnation to tech layoffs and the cycles that come and go. Being able to translate your skills over time in other contexts could help you grow and find a path.
The only thing we can effectively control is the actions we take. Whether it’s entrepreneurship, starting our own business, being ahead of the curve, or embracing a new technology to enhance our workflow.
Working somewhere for 20+ years on a typical career path is no longer the norm.
Being indispensable
We are all capable of being experts. When we see a job posting today, there is a laundry list of expectations regarding skills, tools and abilities that speak to many different areas.
Being a “unicorn” is not normal, yet if you can do a few things well – you certainly stand out from the crowd.
Showing up, adding value and continually improving puts you ahead of 95% of folks.
