The secrets to being a jack of all trades and master of them all

A few years ago Emilie Wapnick gave an explosive Ted Talk on why some of us don’t have one true calling. The power of her talk is how it eloquently narrates the anxiety resulting from not being able to single-mindedly answer the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  If you can relate to this anxiety, then more likely than not, you are a multipotentialite.

A multipotentialite is defined as a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life. They are people who do not have one true calling in the way that specialists do.

As an engineer, investor, writer and academic scholar, who is also entrepreneurial, it took me more 20 years to shake off the anxiety of being a multipotentialite, and finally accepting that I can be a jack of all trades, and be the master of them all. The start of my cure to this anxiety was the realization of how many people who’ve achieved immense success in their respective industries and careers did so because of their multipotentiality and not despite it. This is due to certain characteristics common to people who have this super power that give them the edge in achieving their goals.

1. The ability to transfer of ideas, patterns and knowledge from one interest to another

Since multipotentialites are usually competent in more than one field, the exposure they get from their various fields of interest allows them the unique ability of transferring ideas, processes and knowledge from one industry into another. A great example of this is with Steve Jobs, who is perhaps the most renowned multipotentialite of all time. In his Stanford commencement he attributed the reason why the Macintosh was the first computer in the world to have beautiful typography to him taking a calligraphy class 10 years prior to it being built.

In this way, he could transfer the skills he learned from a decorative handwriting class to change the way people interact with technology.

In line with this ability, an important thing that multipotentialites shouldn’t do is to view the work across their different interests as independent and totally unrelated. The collaboration of interdisciplinary knowledge can be a powerful force in enabling peak performance and creativity, especially when one’s time is vested in many things at once.

2. Effective breaking from activities

Literature on productivity states that the key to being most productive is not working longer, but rather working smarter with frequent breaks. The reason for this is that it allows for work to be done with purpose rather than working to “pass time”, which often leads to procrastination.  This is otherwise referred to as the 100% dedication theory.

Applying this theory as a multipotentialite can be extremely useful. This can be done by aligning work activities from different fields either subsequently or co-currently in one’s schedule. For instance, dedicating the first working period towards working on tasks in one area, and then using the work period after that to do work in a completely different field.

The effectiveness of this is due to the nature of human attention. Studies have shown that repeating tasks leads to cognitive boredom, making you unengaged from the task at hand, and not performing at your peak as a result. Most multipotentialites that use effective breaking are always “switched on” when engaging tasks, thus allowing them to master the specific task that they are working on at any given moment.

3. The intensity of always being a beginner

Since we are not specialists in one given field, there always exists an element of the beginner’s excitement in multipotentialites that is essential to the creative process.  A concept in Buddism called Shoshin beautifully captures this advantage. According to this concept, one of the important characteristics of beginners is their uncapped curiosity. Beginners have no knowledge of what has been done before, so they are more likely to walk down paths that haven’t yet been pioneered.  This is a characteristic prevalent among millennial multipotentialites who are not only creating innovative products and services but also finding new ways of getting work done.

These characteristics that multipotentialites possess are becoming more widespread as requirements that many organizations desire in their employees in order to adapt in an ever changing business environment. They are also essential for entrepreneurs who are often challenged to pursue different avenues for growth or to remain competitive in business. As a result of it is not a far-fetched prediction that in the coming years, the ability of being a jack of all trades and a master of them all will be mandatory for career and business relevance