In the book Serial Innovators, Abbie Griffin and her co-authors found that the most innovative employees repeatedly claimed that they would be screened out under their company’s current hiring practices.Įpstein clarifies that range isn’t always better than specialisation. Large companies recruit for well-defined, specialised roles. (There are exceptions, such as the professors who wrote Calling Bullshit and taught a course by the same name.) Even though most US college graduates end up working in careers unrelated to their majors, our education system tends to teach narrow, job-specific skills. Some people in sports may also have a strong financial interest in making early specialisation seem essential. Stories about child prodigies such as Tiger Woods starting golf at the age of 2 are memorable. Early specialisation can give people a head start, but that lead vanishes or even reverses over the longer run as people with more range catch up.ĭetailed Summary Specialisation is overrated We are pushed to specialise early in many areasĪreas where specialisation is pushed include:.Unintuitively, learning is more effective when it’s slow and challenging.Things that look inefficient may be more effective in the long run:.People who switch careers or take circuitous paths can feel “behind” initially, but end up happier in the long run as they get better match quality.When you get good fit, it looks like grit. Grit depends on context-it’s not a stable personality trait.Elite athletes and musicians often went through a early sampling period to find the sport/instrument that suited them. Narrow, deliberate practice should only come after sampling.Sampling leads to better match quality (how well-matched a person is with their job, partner, etc):.Some degree of incongruence in an organisation is good.Diverse teams tend to be more successful and have a higher chance of making breakthroughs.The benefits of range also extend to teams and organisations:.Teams and organisations with diverse backgrounds (greater range) also tend to be more innovative.Epstein refers to many studies and examples that show how range has helped people be innovative or make important discoveries.

Abstract reasoning then helps us apply existing knowledge to new situations, such as by using analogies.When we learn things in more contexts, it improves our abstract reasoning abilities.Range makes us more creative and innovative:.But range is better at dealing with “wicked problems” (which most problems in the modern world are). In these cases, specialisation is efficient. Specialisation is great at solving “kind problems”, where the goals are clear and you get accurate, fast feedback.There is no entrenched interest pushing for greater range. We face a lot of pressure to specialise, and to specialise early.Things that look inefficient can be more effective in the long run.Range makes us more creative and innovative.

Range daniel epstein