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How to Become the Best in the World at Something

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Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#21

Post by codingslave »

spiderfarmer wrote: post #13
codingslave wrote: post #9

I think this is a fallacy, its true that becoming 90th% in a few different fields would render you quite the unicorn. The issue is that its common for there to be very low demand for such an overlap of skill sets. Also, how would you leverage such an overlap? These positions and opportunities do not just appear as you are qualified, the job market is extremely inefficient, and not very good at correctly pricing abili…

I’m a generalist and it works for me in my one man company. In my previous company I hired specialists, not generalists, because the specialists did not suffer from distractions as much as generalists did. They also didn’t question everything a specialist in another area did. It’s also easier to build teams that way.

True, but is your level of success similar to the level of success of someone who is the best in the world at something?

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#22

Post by joecot »

codingslave wrote: post #9

I think this is a fallacy, its true that becoming 90th% in a few different fields would render you quite the unicorn. The issue is that its common for there to be very low demand for such an overlap of skill sets. Also, how would you leverage such an overlap? These positions and opportunities do not just appear as you are qualified, the job market is extremely inefficient, and not very good at correctly pricing abili…

> The issue is that its common for there to be very low demand for such an overlap of skill sets. Also, how would you leverage such an overlap?

The only overlap they really gave in the examples was "They're good at X skill.... and marketing themselves." Literally, the example people were good at both a skill and then marketing themselves as being good at that skill. Gary Vaynerchuk is both a good writer and good at marketing himself. Steve Jobs was good at design and also marketing himself. Tomas Pueyo is apparently decent at engineering and also ... marketing himself, with articles and TED talks like this. This is also why people can name Neil deGrasse Tyson but probably not a single other living astrophysicist. He's not the best in the world, but he's the best astrophysicist in the world at marketing himself.

So the advice isn't really to be good at two different skills. The advice is to be pretty good at one skill and then be really good at marketing yourself as being good at that thing. Even though other people in the world will be better at it, if you're good at marketing yourself you'll still be in more demand.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#23

Post by IpV8 »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #17

I think there is yet another path: hyper specialization in one ludicrously specific niche no one else cares about or has good reason for not getting into. If you spend 10k hours perfecting something no one else even thought of trying, chances are you'll be the best in the world at it.

It definitely feels good to wake up in the morning and say, "I'm faster than anyone else on this planet at peeling lemons with my toes"

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#24

Post by agota »

codingslave wrote: post #21
spiderfarmer wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m a generalist and it works for me in my one man company. In my previous company I hired specialists, not generalists, because the specialists did not suffer from distractions as much as generalists did. They also didn’t question everything a specialist in another area did. It’s also easier to build teams that way.

True, but is your level of success similar to the level of success of someone who is the best in the world at something?

That's a good point.

However, I think the question is how likely it is that you would be able to become the best in the world at something?

I think that people who are the best in the world at something tend to be genetic freaks. Are you one? Probably not.

In that case, attempting to become the best in the world might mean setting yourself up for failure, though presumably you would still be more successful than an average person. It's just that there's a massive difference between being in the top 10% and the top 1% in terms of reward.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#25

Post by agota »

joecot wrote: post #22
codingslave wrote: post #9

I think this is a fallacy, its true that becoming 90th% in a few different fields would render you quite the unicorn. The issue is that its common for there to be very low demand for such an overlap of skill sets. Also, how would you leverage such an overlap? These positions and opportunities do not just appear as you are qualified, the job market is extremely inefficient, and not very good at correctly pricing abili…

> The issue is that its common for there to be very low demand for such an overlap of skill sets. Also, how would you leverage such an overlap? The only overlap they really gave in the examples was "They're good at X skill.... and marketing themselves." Literally, the example people were good at both a skill and then marketing themselves as being good at that skill. Gary Vaynerchuk is both a good writer and good at m…

I think that's a great observation.

One exception I can think of where you legitimately need to be decent at three skills is bootstrapping as a solopreneur.

You need to be able to code, design, and market your product.

Other than that, it does seem like "X + marketing" is what you need, though I guess "marketing" is an umbrella term (content marketing requires writing ability, public speaking requires public speaking ability, etc.).

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#26

Post by dredmorbius »

markus_zhang wrote: post #20
coldtea wrote: post #16

That sounds like a common idea the Dilbert author mentions from time to time. He could draw a little, and he knew about the business world a little, but not many people could combine those things -- and be a business cartoonist.

He also started kind of early and managed to keep it going. Starting early is extremely important for...pretty much everything.

As is keeping it going.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#27

Post by agota »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #17

I think there is yet another path: hyper specialization in one ludicrously specific niche no one else cares about or has good reason for not getting into. If you spend 10k hours perfecting something no one else even thought of trying, chances are you'll be the best in the world at it.

Can you give a specific example, though?

Because generally, no competition means no demand, so while it might be satisfying to be best in the world at something, an obscure skill might not translate into financial success.

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#28

Post by staktrace »

coldtea wrote: post #16

That sounds like a common idea the Dilbert author mentions from time to time. He could draw a little, and he knew about the business world a little, but not many people could combine those things -- and be a business cartoonist.

The article indeed credits Scott Adams (the Dilbert author) with the term "skill stacking".

Re: How to Become the Best in the World at Something

#29

Post by dredmorbius »

AWildC182 wrote: post #14
qubex wrote: post #8

And here I was, expecting to read a ‘hypothetical’ plan to assassinate all one’s competition... maybe it’s time to put The Prince down.

That's how masters (old timers) rowing seems to work. You just wait for whoever is faster to die of old age and if you die first it's not your problem anymore.

Gail Roper,swimming:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Peters

(I've had the privilege of being beat by someone decades my senior.)

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