My friend Alicia sent me a quote the other day, and with her permission I’m posting segments of our conversation:
"A human being should be able to heal a wound, plan an expedition, order from a French menu, climb a mountain face, enjoy a ballet, balance accounts, roll a kayak, embolden a friend, tell a joke, laugh at himself, cooperate, act alone, sing a children's song, solve equations, throw a dog a stick, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, love heartily, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." — Lew Hitchner
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[NOTE: the quote above attributed to Lew Hitchner actually originated with Robert A. Heinlein – see the note at the end of this post.]
One part of me really likes that quote. The other part of me disagrees with the last sentence about insects.
But according to Dr. Napoleon Hill (Think & Grow Rich), Lew Hitchner is entirely wrong.
Hill, along with many other gurus past and present, believed that to specialize was the way to be successful. Even Malcom Gladwell’s book “Outliers” deals with this. People become successful after 10,000 hours of doing something at a high level, etc.
I get that. In the realm of business, or sports, or becoming the best one can be in any given arena, perfect practice does make perfect.
But even Michael Jordan didn’t play basketball every second he was awake (obviously, or he wouldn’t have been gambling and golfing and gotten secretly suspended by David Stern for 2 years!). What about the life lived between practice and performance?
Maybe I'm just too P (on the Brain Typology quadrant), but I have a thirst to be good at or at least experience once, everything.
My friend’s response when I told her a shorter version of the above:
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In business terms then yes, specialization may be the key. If what you are specializing in is able to generate the desired outcome & income. Sometimes one specialization won't make you millions, thus it may be better to dabble in a few things at once. When biz slows on one end, maybe it'll bump up in another. Who knows. I don't think there is one right answer in which you can generalize all the possibilities.
In life, I totally believe in that quote. Sure, if you succeed in specializing in the biz world, it's obviously working. However, specializing doesn't help make you a more well rounded person. One thing I pride myself on is adaptability. There are few things I have experienced, or may, in which I'd feel like a fish out of water. Maybe because I have experienced such a variety in my life thus far that new experiences don't frighten me. Challenge me, yes. But in most situations I know I can handle it, do it, solve it, etc. I believe that you are the same way too. But there are a lot of people that all too easily get out of their element.
Who do you think would be more prepared/able to handle it if the "specialized business' began to tank? Sometimes specialized people may have a harder time thinking outside the box. What would they do if their specialty failed?
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Valid questions, and great points above them.
I was raised that way also. “Be well-rounded”.
So I was pushed to be the best I could be in football, basketball, baseball…and I sang in state-championship winning choirs (I know, I know…) and acted and took photography class and learned to play the piano and how to hoe beans.
Being one-dimensional was not acceptable in our family. Mainly because, everybody was capable of doing nearly everything, with a modicum of success.
But I think that can hurt in some areas too. While that’s great if you’re Brad Pitt and make $20million for 6 weeks of work and a year of ugly facial hair, it’s not so great if you’re pulled in a lot of different directions and lose focus of keeping your skis under you.
As with everything in life, the goal should be balanced evolution.
However, I’d be a hypocrite to say that EVERYONE should only specialize in their vocation, and then be well-rounded everywhere else.
I think it depends on your brain type. If you’re an ISFJ and you love routine and have no desire to do anything risky and you simply want to have your job and your family and your security, then being well-rounded might not be that important.
And for that brain type, they would be perfectly content with a lifetime of that.
For the types that crave variety, excitement, fun, constant changes of scenery…you better hope you strike it rich or marry rich. Because your zeal for life and quest to experience every drop of it will be constantly frustrated by what some others call “the real world” and what you’d call “the drudgery of paying the bills”.
I get it, for sure.
The point still remains to learn to be balanced. Find something vocational to specialize in that you’re passionate about and that makes you enough moolah to live the life you want. Then go live the life you want (and if you can make money doing it, all the better – life’s much freer when you do what you are and love what you do!).
And while Dr. Hill is correct, the meaning of life isn’t to be the next Dale Carnegie for everybody.
Some people want to hike in the Himalayas, surf in Tahiti, bungee jump in New Zealand, go on Safari in Africa, learn to Tango in Argentina, jump from a cliff in Norway, and go clubbin’ with P.Diddy in New York. The list could be endless, of things to do (ride an elephant in Thailand), to learn (how to fight with numchucks!), to experience with the senses (wine and cheese in France).
I say more power to anybody that seeks those experiences. If that’s what quenches your thirst for life, and you can afford it, go for it! I’ll meet you at the next stop.
At the same time, though, I’m going to be honing my skills in a variety of ‘specialized’ areas. Because I believe in maximizing potential, and evolving myself.
Sure, life’s a boatload of fun, but once again…balance.
Becoming the best I can possibly be, with every talent I have…and having as much fun with the variety the universe has to offer…that’s really living.
(PS – I think I'll pass on the P.Diddy experience though. Unless it somehow involves J.Lo.)
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[Thanks to Lew Hitchner for pointing out the orgination of that quote. Lew had paraphrased it for a friend who passed away, and apparently subsequently has been credited with originating it. As you can see below though, he simply changed it to more closely match his friend's life.
- "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
- "A human being should be able to heal a wound, plan an expedition, order from a French menu, climb a mountain face, enjoy a ballet, balance accounts, roll a kayak, embolden a friend, tell a joke, laugh at himself, cooperate, act alone, sing a children's song, solve equations, throw a dog a stick,pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, love heartily, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects." — Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
Specialization is for insects." — Lewis E. Hitchner, Dartmouth College Alumni Magazine 1982, memoriam for Robert Frohboese, class of 1965]