Jack of all trades, master of none
The above quote is mostly meant in a negative connotation, which means a person has tried multiple skills, but could not make use of any of them. Refer to this for the Wikipedia definition.
There is another version of the above quote, which reads “jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one”, and there are claims that this is the original version.
Although there might be discussions around what is the actual purpose, and what is the meaning behind it, the motive here is not to justify either. I want to share my experience, and how this quote has played a role into shaping my journey.
There has been situations where I was not able to decide whether I should dive deeper into a particular instance, or gather ideas about some related topics to understand all the moving parts better.
I would not say that I have figured out the answer to the question, but reflecting back at how I have behaved in such situations, I can say that I am more inclined towards knowing about more things, that knowing more about one thing.
Generalist vs Specialist has been in the discussions for quite some time. I hope to shed some light on the fact that not being a specialist might not impact someone negatively as well.
Practically, jack of all trades is not possible (considering the number of trades to choose from). Hence, the name of the website. Hope that you keep an eye for more blog posts here!