In defense of breadth

Common wisdom says to focus on one area. There is that phrase “jack of all trades, master of none”.¹ I disagree. Cal Newport has written about the misguided attempts of people chasing what they believe is their passion, their calling, their area in which to become a master. People become pigeonholed into their specialisation.

I have always had many interests. I struggled to choose a major, and in fact started a double degree in Physics and Chemistry. I probably would have added Biology if my highschool had allowed me to take it.² I have had a lot of hobbies, generally ones that allow me to create things with my hands. A large part of the enjoyment I derive from my hobbies is the opportunity to learn something new. To find a new stone to turn over and a new world to explore. To challenge myself to understand a hard concept or perform a complicated task.

Science, and life, do not exist within clear boundaries. My PhD research would fall within the field of organometallics. But my research meant I learnt a range of synthetic and air sensitive techniques, plus physical chemistry concepts and methods to follow reaction kinetics and think about mechanisms. I tried to model some of the compounds to see if their properties were predictable in silico, which exposed me to the world of computational chemistry and related data science workflows and techniques.

More recently I have been actively working on improving my writing and communication. I have been reading books on the matter, as well as reading well written books to get a feel for what makes writing engaging. I now understand that to write well, one must read broadly. Prose consumed, even when not at work, helps improve my sense of the written word, and how to wield it effectively.

Within a scientific context, I have found that broadening my research horizons has opened many vistas into exciting new ideas. Bringing my experiences to a new field, and having to try to quickly get up to speed on a new area helps shine a light on opportunities for investigation. Going down an interesting rabbit hole might seem unrelated at the moment, but I know that - as long as I learn and take notes that I can reference (see Zettelkasten) - the exercise is never a waste of effort.

Having a richer worklife, allowing myself to explore the things that interest me, helps make me a better researcher. I’ve started to allocate an hour each week to learn about something new, something not immediately helpful to my current work.

The world could do with more Jacks.