
The opportunity cost of a broad skillset - blasdel
http://rc3.org/2011/08/06/the-opportunity-cost-of-a-broad-skillset/
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techiferous
As a side note, don't make the mistake of assuming that you have to choose
between being really good at one thing or being acceptable at many things.
It's possible to be really good at many things.

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tokenadult
_It's possible to be really good at many things._

What are some of the many things that you have seen one person be really good
at at the same time?

After edit: thanks for the kind reply, but I kind of thought from your
original comment (parent to this comment) that you had a more recent example
than Da Vinci in mind. What living persons are there who are conspicuously
really good at many things?

[http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/course/6/6.055/readi...](http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/course/6/6.055/readings/ericsson-
charness-am-psychologist.pdf)

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barry-cotter
Carl Djerassi, Cosma Shalizi, Tyler Cowen, Richard Feynman, John von Neumann.
Djerassi was a Stanford chemist and has multiple works of fiction published,
Shalizi is a physicist/statistician/sociologist, Cowen is an economist/public
intellectual, neither Feynman nor Vonneumann need introduction.

[http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/edward-carr/last-
days...](http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/edward-carr/last-days-
polymath)

~~~
yters
Michael Crichton comes to mind too.

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shaggyfrog
I run into this problem all the time with recruiters, especially non-technical
recruiters, who are the kind of people who just want to match up
YEARS_EXPERIENCE_NEEDED with ${ACRONYM} down a list, and if you don't match
up, you're filtered out. It's very frustrating because it's hard to get
interviews, which is where I have a chance to shine, and show that client why
taking on someone with a broad skillset -- especially one who understands
business issues -- is better than hiring a hyper-specialized candidate.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
Unfortunately, many companies don't want engineers who understand business
issues, because they ask hard questions.

Personally, I really prefer engineers who spend time understanding the
business: It forces me to have data for my decisions.

Want a job in Utah? ;)

~~~
shaggyfrog
>Want a job in Utah? ;)

Only if it's telecommute. :)

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gaius
Learning the job on billable time is normal in consulting.

