Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
My trigger point for picking up this book was a
conversation I had with a fellow mate during a Robotics competition in Delhi.
The conversation went as follows:
Mate: Hey, do you think our kids are getting a good but a narrow exposure by choosing to do Olympiad’s at this age?
Me: Hmmm, yes, the exposure is good but I wonder how can it possibly harm them? Any thoughts?
Mate: Specialisation too early has its pitfalls, as we may be molding their minds to think in a defined way.
Me: Hmm…
So, the question to be answered was: Going towards a narrow specialization at a young age, is it the right thing to do?
Now I am armored with Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World in my kindle.
The book starts by pointing out how Tiger Woods took up golf at an early age. This example is picked by many as an example of how mastery of a subject needs to be done. Epstein compares this to Roger Federer who played many sports before focusing on tennis. Epstein states, with some evidence, that stars like Federer are more common than stars like Woods.
The point that this book makes is that specialists do well in a "kind" world, where rules are clear and feedback is immediate (like playing golf or chess). Generalists do well in a "wicked" world, where rules are unclear or unknown and feedback is not immediate (like practicing medicine). Therefore, a cardiologist with a wider range of knowledge (like nutrition and physiology) would make a better doctor than one who is focused only on acquiring more technical knowledge about the heart.
So, what do I think?
I do know that I am as inspired after reading Range, as I was after Gladwell's Outliers (which kept insisting that for being good you need to clock in 10,000 hours). I say this book deserves a read and applied curiosity. I also think that having a generalist’s approach is a good idea, especially for future jobs where a synthesis of ideas from different fields will be forming the basis of a lot of jobs.
Lastly, so are we going to continue with our Robotics Olympiad?
Yes, as its project-based and we need to work in teams. A very important skill we learn apart from programming.
The conversation went as follows:
Mate: Hey, do you think our kids are getting a good but a narrow exposure by choosing to do Olympiad’s at this age?
Me: Hmmm, yes, the exposure is good but I wonder how can it possibly harm them? Any thoughts?
Mate: Specialisation too early has its pitfalls, as we may be molding their minds to think in a defined way.
Me: Hmm…
So, the question to be answered was: Going towards a narrow specialization at a young age, is it the right thing to do?
The book starts by pointing out how Tiger Woods took up golf at an early age. This example is picked by many as an example of how mastery of a subject needs to be done. Epstein compares this to Roger Federer who played many sports before focusing on tennis. Epstein states, with some evidence, that stars like Federer are more common than stars like Woods.
The point that this book makes is that specialists do well in a "kind" world, where rules are clear and feedback is immediate (like playing golf or chess). Generalists do well in a "wicked" world, where rules are unclear or unknown and feedback is not immediate (like practicing medicine). Therefore, a cardiologist with a wider range of knowledge (like nutrition and physiology) would make a better doctor than one who is focused only on acquiring more technical knowledge about the heart.
So, what do I think?
I do know that I am as inspired after reading Range, as I was after Gladwell's Outliers (which kept insisting that for being good you need to clock in 10,000 hours). I say this book deserves a read and applied curiosity. I also think that having a generalist’s approach is a good idea, especially for future jobs where a synthesis of ideas from different fields will be forming the basis of a lot of jobs.
Lastly, so are we going to continue with our Robotics Olympiad?
Yes, as its project-based and we need to work in teams. A very important skill we learn apart from programming.
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