Jack of All Trades, Master of None: A Generalist’s Advantage
We live in an age where excellence is rewarded, applauded, and oftentimes expected. To excel at one thing is more appealing than to be adequate in many fields—after all, excellence means recognition, and recognition is something that we all crave as humans. Hence, children are often advised to pour all of their energy and attention into one skill to ensure they master that specific field, while being decent at many skills but having mastered none makes one appear indecisive, spelling out a future recipe for disaster. The phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” is used almost as a warning, implying that mediocrity is unacceptable and generalists are not destined for greatness. However, why does being deemed average seem such an unfortunate fate? Is being “good but not great” now synonymous with failure?
Nowadays, the words “average” and “mediocre” have such negative connotations that being called one of them is perceived almost as an insult. It reveals the somewhat toxic culture of being expected not just to meet expectations but to exceed them in order to be deemed “good enough.” In reality, being considered “above average” is more uncommon than one might assume, especially since in statistics, “average” simply is whatever is most common or ordinary in a data set. Those who are categorically “above average” are extremely rare, which is exactly what makes them “above average.”
Recognizing this reality highlights a deeper problem in our self-perception and social values: the tendency to equate “average” with “bad” or “not enough.” It can lead to the belief that if you’re not the best at what you do, you aren’t good at it at all—the thinking that everything should be an “all or nothing” case, with no room for middle ground. Because of this, people often disregard the value of having a wide variety of skills. Being hyper-focused on developing one skill to the point of obsession can lead to a lack of adaptability, a skill of increasing importance in a world of rapid change and evolution.
We’ve all heard “jack of all trades, master of none” so many times that we commonly fail to remember the last part of the statement, “...but oftentimes better than master of one.” Excellence and achievements come in many forms, and both being a jack of all trades and being a master of one can be equally fulfilling to two different people. To some, happiness comes with mastering one skill. To others, it comes with versatility and doing the many different things they love—a belief that is just as valid.
