"Jack of All Trades". Anyone ever called you that? Ever wondered whether that was a compliment? I always thought it was until I was lying in the bath the other evening, thinking about that phrase.
Now, before you even go there. Yes, even Bikers take a bath at least once a year, and some of us think every now and then as well. So, no funny comments about the way I smell after the bath, or the fact that I can actually count up to.....uhmmmm.......Plenty when I have my shoes off!
Back to my original thought on being called a "Jack of All Trades". We all know this phrase is not commonly used on it's own, because it is more often than not, followed by the phrase: "Master of None". THAT is where the problem lies, because you may be reasonable at many things, but not the master, or expert, at anything in particular!
In the "good old days" it used to be considered a compliment when you were deemed an "expert" at your job, even if you knew little, or nothing, about other parts of the job. There were other people in the place who were "experts" in their respective jobs and they could compliment your expertise by doing their part of the overall job. This meant that you could do what you were good at and then hand over the job to the next expert in the process to worry about.
I do understand the need for multi-skilling the workforce and development of skills, and all that. What I do NOT understand, however, is the fact that people keep on complaining about the "brain drain", yet these same people want everyone to know everything about all aspects of the job. You cannot have a "Jack of All Trades" and expect them to actually do EVERYTHING well!
I've heard it said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. However, I've also heard the saying: "A little knowledge may be dangerous...but not as dangerous as a LOT of ignorance!"
In my (not so humble) opinion, I believe that we are trying our best to ensure that we are so good at everything that nobody can do anything without us. Or to put it another way: I think we are so scared that we won't be good at something, that we'd rather be "ok" at as much as possible.
Or maybe. Hmmmm. Here's something to think about! Maybe we are so lazy to learn to become an expert at one thing, that we'd rather juggle so many balls at once that nobody can see exactly how many we're actually dropping along the way. And if we happen to drop one of yours along the way, then we can always blame it on Management, because they told us to do so many things at once!
I, for one, have decided to start "sucking" at less stuff and start becoming more proficient at more of the less stuff that I want to concentrate on!
What do you mean that doesn't make sense? I mean that I want to start concentrating more on the stuff that I know I'm good at and start worrying less about the stuff that I couldn't care less about. And, who knows, I may actually get more done than before, because I can honestly say that juggling so many balls at once is no fun if you're only good at handling a couple at a time.
Maybe the world would be a better place if we all started taking that approach?
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