The “Jack of all Trades”

Embrace being a misfit

This blog post is written mostly as a reflection of my own approach to work. And my own perception of myself. To myself. I might very well be wrong, but accepting my own unquenchable curiosity as a strength rather than a weakness is what gets me up in the morning. While it’s not exactly on the same topic as William Frazier article about “The E-Myth Revisited”, it did partly start me reflecting on the many hats an entrepreneur has to wear.

Society’s general advice is to specialize. And it is according to all statistics and accounts the most sensible thing to do. At most companies, being a jack of all trades, will leave you behind when applying for jobs. And more importantly, it’s hard to effectivize if everyone is good at everything: companies need specialized employees. But that doesn’t hold true for every job. And it definitely doesn’t hold true for entrepreneurs.

I don’t think you should ever strive to be a generalist. But some people simply can’t help it. I’m not talking about being a generalist, due to a lack of trying to accomplish anything. I’m talking about the kind of generalist that’s bred due to wanting to do everything. To them, specializing is a constant struggle, that requires sacrificing all the other passions and possibilities that’s out there. And it’s a sacrifice they often have to make, to make their skillsets marketable.

The power of curiosity

But knowledge is power. And knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is more so. Personally I find that people who match this profile usually have the following strengths:

• They are quick learners
• They perceive problems from different angles
• They are good at coordinating efforts
• They are good at working in unstable and fluid work environments
• They are proactive
• They tend to end up working either solo or as leaders
• They tend to be very entrepreneurial
• They are big picture oriented

And the following weaknesses:

• They don’t work well under tight rules and constraints
• They are usually not very good at detail oriented work
• They are very good at the first 80% of a project but loath the last 20%
• Hard to keep motivated in the same position
• Risk never finishing anything due to fleeting attention

There are definitely more in both categories, and I welcome additions in the comments. But these are the ones that sprang to mind when I wrote this.

Playing on your strengths

But there’s another way. If you suffer from this affliction, you should try to embrace it. Making sacrifices and keeping focus is essential if you want to succeed. But embracing your ability to learn, work with and be passionate about multiple facets of a business can be a major asset. Especially if you’re starting out as an entrepreneur. In small teams, there is always too much work to be done. And few startups can afford to fill out every position with a specialized employee. In this situation, your most vital asset is your ability to adapt and fill out whatever vacuum needs to be filled.

If you have a hard time labeling yourself solely as a “designer”, “marketer”, “developer”, “salesman” etc. it might just be that you’re neither. It might just be that you’re a jack of all trades. And you should consider either going out on your own or finding jobs that play to your strengths rather than against them.

Do you consider yourself a “Jack of all trades”? Tell me your thoughts here or on Twitter.
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