Master of None: How a Jack-of-All-Trades Can Still Reach the Top

We have all heard the 10 000 hour rule While 10 000 hours works for some people like Olympic athletes but there are serious pitfalls to this rule 160 Only the individual knows the extent of the sacrifices made but it’s an uneasy thought in the very least when you consider spending half your life or more to achieve something that doesn’t quite pan out Do you really have to grind down the same path for many years sacrificing priorities along the way in order to be very successful? 160 In his memoir former Sonic CEO Cliff Hudson asks whether or not 160 mastery is even necessary Must you become an expert in order to be happy and successful? Most people don't need to be experts in their field The successful know more than the average person about a particular topic and/or they possess a better-than-average ability with a particular skillset but to call them all experts is an enormous stretch 160 But focusing too narrowly comes with its own risks—perhaps even more in today’s technology-driven environment which constantly changes the nature of work and the skills required to do it Over-investing in expertise is often riskier than learning to be adaptive and in an always-learning mode Studies show that 160 industry experts with countless hours invested in their craft are prone to overconfidence making them no better than amateurs at forecasting say the housing market’s next trend or whether a college football player is worthy of being picked in the first round of the NFL draft Yet we deeply value the expertise ideal Hudson turns expertise on its head and shows that by embracing variety and becoming more versatile you can succeed and become more open to different opportunities in your life Read Less