I think it's a common misconception that people who have portfolio careers are somehow lacking focus. People will say things like 'You wouldn't want a surgeon operating on you if they didn't specialise'. Of course you'd want them to be experienced and have the required knowledge and expertise but why must we assume that length of service and dedication to a single area is necessarily the prerequisite recipe for success and talent?
Are there not examples in all professions where a long career in a single area does not necessarily determine high skill levels? Are there not, for example, less experienced teachers who bring new and dynamic ways of learning to classrooms? Teachers, Dentists, Solicitors, Journalists; they might have been doing it a long time but still could be either brilliant at what they do or totally jaded and perpetuating bad habits.
Might you not prefer a doctor who through a part-time role combined with something less demanding manages to avoid burn out and exhaustion and so makes a better judged diagnosis? Of course sometimes practise does make perfect. Brilliant musicians who play for a hobby rather than a career are good examples of this. On the other hand though, it can sometimes foster complacency and narrow-mindedness in some people. Think of career civil servants and pedantic bureaucrats who seem to take a little too much pleasure in unquestioning compliance.
I firmly believe that the human brain has the capacity to achieve excellence and mastery in more than one area. We do ourselves a disservice and avoid the pursuit of high standards if we refuse to accept this because of outdated notions of professional status.
Are there not examples in all professions where a long career in a single area does not necessarily determine high skill levels? Are there not, for example, less experienced teachers who bring new and dynamic ways of learning to classrooms? Teachers, Dentists, Solicitors, Journalists; they might have been doing it a long time but still could be either brilliant at what they do or totally jaded and perpetuating bad habits.
Might you not prefer a doctor who through a part-time role combined with something less demanding manages to avoid burn out and exhaustion and so makes a better judged diagnosis? Of course sometimes practise does make perfect. Brilliant musicians who play for a hobby rather than a career are good examples of this. On the other hand though, it can sometimes foster complacency and narrow-mindedness in some people. Think of career civil servants and pedantic bureaucrats who seem to take a little too much pleasure in unquestioning compliance.
I firmly believe that the human brain has the capacity to achieve excellence and mastery in more than one area. We do ourselves a disservice and avoid the pursuit of high standards if we refuse to accept this because of outdated notions of professional status.
This blog automatically posts to my facebook page and a much respected colleague of mine told me there that a few years ago he coined the term 'general specialist' to counter what he calls the poisonous term 'jack of all trades' - not bad but at all but is it what we call it that matters or the quality of what we do?
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