Chapter 7 - Flirting with Your Possible Selves
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The First Book: Range by David Epstein
David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters, and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see.
Who should read this?
All books have a thesis they attempt to answer, and Range's subtitle gives away the thesis right on the cover!
Why generalists succeed in a specialized world?
If the quote," jack of all trades, master of none." resonates with you, this book will fascinate you. Or if you are a curious person might berate themselves having too many interests. The book is about being broadly curious to solve problems more effectively.
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Chapter 7 - Flirting with Your Possible Selves
The chapter starts with the story of Frances Hesselbein, who serves as the archetype for this chapter. The theme is trying on jobs that seem right for you at that time. Hesselbein never planned on doing any of the positions that she held and yet became one of the best leaders of her time. After she retired in 1990, Peter Drucker said she was the best CEO in America. "She could manage any company in America."
What sounds shocking is that because most are taught that we must have a long-term plan to succeed? In her own words,
"I was unaware that I was being prepared. I did not intend to become a leader, I just learned by doing what was needed at the time."
The Dark Horse Project
David outlines the Dark Horse Project. The Dark Horse Project is a long-term study of how women and men achieve success by harnessing their individuality. The research outline is that most successful people think they are an anomaly, and most people don't take the path they did. Everyone has a different road they travel.
Ogi Ogas shared his insights on match quality.
"They focused on 'Here's who I am at the moment, here are my motivations, here's what I've found I like to do, here's what I'd like to learn, and here are the opportunities. Which of these is the best match right now? And maybe a year from now I'll switch because I'll find something better.'"
What separates a dark horse is that they focused on short-term planning and focused on what fits them best in the short term and moved on when a new interest fit them better. However, there is nothing wrong with committing to a law or medical degree or Ph.D. The research shows it is riskier because you don't know how well it fits until after being committed for years.
Example of a Dark Horse: Charles Darwin
One of the most shocking examples is Charles Darwin. Initially planned on becoming a doctor only to find it boring and then attempting to be a clergyman. Only to take a gap year aboard the HMS Beagle recommended by a botany professor, the takeaway being our work and life change preferences. They change; we change as well. Psychologist Dan Gilbert calls this the "end of history illusion."
In his phenomenal TED Talk, he shares how the perception of personal change feels so slow.
No matter at what age, we tend to think of ourselves as fixed. It's hard to see who we might become because we are embedded directly in our experiences. Even when this writing thinking about how I worked just a year has drastically changed, I have some ways to think about the world.
Generally speaking, adults tend to become more agreeable with age, more conscientious, more emotionally stable, and less neurotic with age, but less open to the experience. In middle age, adults grow more consistent and cautious and less curious, open-minded, and inventive. The largest personality changes happen between age eighteen and late twenties. This could be why specializing too early can be a match quality error since you haven't had enough to become who you will yet.
Context Principle
Naturally, when we drift into personality changes, the question can evolve into a debate on nature and nurture. One aspect researched by Ogas and Rose has called the context principle. Depending on the context of the different experiences, our personalities can seem to shift. In the book's example, someone can look to be introverted or extroverted and consistently so. Ogas even ties this back into grit; depending on the situation, if someone is engaged enough, they will behave in a way that looks gritty, so you have to match people to the problem, not expect them to behave equally in all contexts.
Herminia Ibarra, a professor of organizational behavior at London, has one of the most profound quotes that capture the entire book's essence: we learn who we are only by living and not before. We should be adopting a new strategy that thinks of ourselves and what we could do as an experiment rather than plan the standard plan and implement what we should be tested and learn. Similar to the old tag line of Feeding Curiosity - Think, question, synthesize.
The chapter's end is a brief look at many of the dark horses we know today from artists, scientists, and sports figures.
Outsider art is an art by self-taught or naïve art makers. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds.
