Book Review: Range
“Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”1
Way back in 2007, I wrote a book titled, Rainmakers, Closers and Other Sales Myths. Although the title of an excellent book reviewed here is Range (2019), it might have been called Debunking the Myth of Specialization.
Author David Epstein systematically takes apart this myth that prevails in education, athletics, career development and business. Simply put, it is the belief that the earlier someone specializes the more successful he or she will become.
He opens by comparing the careers of Tiger Woods, who personifies the early specialization myth, with Roger Federer, equally dominant in his sport, but less well-known as a generalist. Many of us recall the images of Tiger on national TV as a young boy with a beautiful golf swing. He didn’t play other sports and eventually won 15 majors.
Of course, the more recent images of Tiger are of a mug shot of him after driving under the influence of painkillers. A few years later, he fell asleep at the wheel and is lucky to be alive today. Lucky too that he did not kill others.
Less popular, is the story of the generalist, Roger Federer. Before focusing on tennis and winning 20 grand slams, he dabbled in squash, skiing, soccer, wrestling, swimming, basketball and skateboarding.
The essence of the research Epstein unpacks is that specialization provides a head start, but generalists typically surpass them. Another way to summarize the research is that walking early as a child has nothing to do with how fast young adults run.
While the implications are profound for many arenas, I will focus on career development in higher education, the subject of my dissertation. Despite the evidence that seven of ten college students change majors, colleges and universities still push early specialization when most college students don’t know enough about themselves, fields of study or the world of work. As Epstein (P. 130) writes:
“Exploration is not just a whimsical luxury of education; it is a central benefit.”
In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to every parent, coach, educator, and business leader. Epstein relates important science in an entertaining, story-telling manner.
1 For some reason, most only remember the first part of this quote that was originally applied to a writer named William Shakespeare. (Epstein, P. 293)
Comments
Book Review: Range — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>