“Range”: Ode to Generalists Among Us

Finally someone wrote a book about us ;)

Non-fiction books can often be a hit or miss.

“Range. Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” by David Epstein was quite an interesting non-fiction read, though:

David Epstein is known for his research of the professional sportsmen’ careers (his other popular book is “Sports Gene”).

He also focuses on people who got to be successful in what they do (much) later in their lives.

According to Epstein, it is a misconception that in order to be accomplished, you have to specialise on a specific field very young and early. While it might work for some, it is far from being the universal truth.

He uses the example of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer:

Tiger Woods was trained to golf since he was three, and golf was the only thing he ever did in his life.

Roger Federer’s parents did not really care about his sports career, so he did all kinds of sports before focusing on tennis in his later teenage years.

Epstein claims that many more people are Federers and not Woods, and having background in different fields is much more beneficial than being focused on one thing only, from the early age.

This thought might sound trivial, but it is not the reality of most professional fields or science circles, where being highly specialised is sort of the only thing encouraged.

The author further claims that it’s not that being highly specialised is bad (and this kind of experts will always be valuable and needed). It is just that looking at the bigger picture and acquiring knowledge from different areas can be extremely beneficial — which I 100% agree with.

The book did feel a little bit too long at times. I have also seen some criticism around “bending” some arguments to fit the narrative of the book.

Still, I do think that the topic of specialists vs. generalists is important. Both exist, and they compliment and not “compete” with each other.

I don’t regret reading it, but I would want to pick up a more in-depth book on this topic.

Beer of the day is a classic Guinness.

We had this pint at the Guinness “source”, in the Storehouse in Dublin. We did a private tasting and learned how to pour a pint — what a great experience!