The jack of all trades is mastered by none

When you know a little bit about how to do a lot of things, it’s easier for you to make sense of just about anything. You may not be an expert in everything, but you can develop the capacity to figure things out and do it yourself, or at the very least you can have appreciation for those who can do it.

If that sounds a bit abstract, here are some examples.

Over the years, I've developed the ability to do most of the mechanical repairs on my family's vehicles. At this point, the only things I'd definitely outsource are major engine repairs (like rebuilds) and transmission repair, as those tasks require highly specialized tools and know how. Doing all the other routine stuff like oil changes and brakes saves at least 50% off the shop rate, I have confidence that it's done correctly, and I happen to enjoy the work.

Having an understanding of the various systems—how an engine runs, how the cooling system cools, how suspension components work together, etc.—enables me to diagnose things on my own and decide whether something is worth fixing myself or if it's best left to the professionals. And if something does need expert help, I'm in a better position to have an intelligent conversation at the shop, evaluate the quality of service, and understand why the bill is what it is. I'm less likely to get bamboozled simply because I have some knowledge of how things go together and the relative complexity of the repair process.

On the web dev side of things, I've had the opportunity to build in both WordPress and Webflow, which has given me exposure to a wide range of hosts, web building tools, plugins, and the like. All of that work requires a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, APIs, networking concepts, security, caching, SEO, privacy laws, and a litany of other things. You can go deep in any of those topics, but a generalist has to possess a working knowledge of all of those things in order to build websites that truly serve business needs.

And there are social benefits here, too. When you have a breadth of experience, it makes it possible to collaborate effectively with people across disciplines. Whereas the specialist might have a hard time outside his niche, the jack-of-all trades finds common ground and shared language with all types of folks.

You need depth in a specific area, but the jack-of-all-trades has range. Simply put, be a T-shaped individual.