Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking. One User vs. Multiple-Users Empathy Maps.

Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking. One User vs. Multiple-Users Empathy Maps.

People Who Have “Too Many Interests” Are More Likely To Be Successful According To Research. Many of the most impactful individuals, both contemporary and historical, have been generalists: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Richard Feynman, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Marie Curie to name just a few. If being a generalist was so ineffective, why are the founders of the five largest companies in the world — Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos — all polymaths (who also follow the 5-hour rule)?

If you want something extraordinary [in life], you have two paths: 1. Become the best at one specific thing. 2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things. “The future belongs to the integrators.” — Educator Ernest Boyer

I define a modern polymath as someone who becomes competent in at least three diverse domains and integrates them into a top 1-percent skill set. In other words, they bring the best of what humanity has discovered from across fields to help them be more effective in their core field.

Since Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, popularized the concept, many now believe that to become world-class in a skill, they must complete 10,000 hours of deliberate practice in order to beat the competition, going as deep as possible into one field. Charles Darwin, creator of one of the most important theories in history — the theory of evolution — was a polymath too.

My observation is that academics often look down on journalists; journalists look down on marketers; and marketers look down on journalists and academics. What many fail to see is that each brings something valuable to the table and that all of these skills combined lead to great ideas seen by large audiences. “Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses — especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

Being a polymath instead of a specialist is an advantage, not a weakness. People who love learning across fields can use that tendency to be more financially successful and impactful in their career.

Polymath Advantage 1: Creating an atypical combination of two or more skills that you’re merely competent can lead to a world-class skill set. If you want something extraordinary [in life], you have two paths: 1. Become the best at one specific thing. 2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.

Polymath Advantage 2: Most creative breakthroughs come via making atypical combinations of skills. The top performing studies cited atypical combinations of other studies (90 percent conventional citations from their own field and 10 percent from other fields).

Polymath Advantage 3: It’s easier and faster than ever to become competent in a new skill. Second, there is an abundance of free or affordable content from the world’s top experts in every medium you can think of. “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Polymath Advantage 4: It’s easier than ever to pioneer a new field, industry, or skill set. First, one of the main ways that new skill sets, industries, and fields emerge is by combining them with old ones: Second, the number of new academic fields and business industries is increasing exponentially. Young Leonardo Da Vinci was frustrated that he was born in a period where everything worth being discovered had already been discovered. So the question arises, how do we make investments in knowledge now that will pay off far into the future? I’d make the case that a polymath is much better positioned than a specialist. A polymath can take the skills that she or he has learned and combine them in new ways quickly to master new fields.

Polymath Advantage 6: It sets you up to solve more complex problems.

Polymath Advantage 7: It helps you stand out and compete in the global economy. By becoming a polymath and developing a unique skill set that few others have, then you’ll be able to differentiate yourself and charge more. Ask yourself the same question that self-made billionaire Peter Thiel, one of the top investors in Silicon Valley, asks candidates he might hire and founders he might fund, “What’s the one thing you believe is true that no one else agrees with you on?” If you can’t come up with anything, it tells you that you might not be as an original thinker as thought you were. “You can’t make money agreeing with the consensus view.” — Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates (largest hedge fund in the world) “The best projects are likely to be overlooked, not trumpeted by a crowd; the best problems to work on are often the ones nobody else even tries to solve.” — Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and billionaire investor ($3.3 billion net worth)

Bottom Line: Make Yourself Anti-Fragile Polymaths, on the other hand, are what Nassim Taleb calls “anti-fragile.” Changes to the environment make them stronger. “The greatest scientists are artists as well.” — Einstein

During the hundreds of hours I’ve spent researching how to be a polymath and interviewing polymaths, one key that I’ve discovered is mental models. They are the invisible links that connect disciplines together: For example, once you learn the “80/20 Rule,” which states that, in many domains, 20 percent of your efforts produce 80 percent of your results, you can use this mental model to improve efficiency and impact in every area of your life as well as every field you study forever.

In conclusion, being a polymath, or someone with diverse skills and interests, can be a significant advantage in today's world. Not only does it allow for the creation of unique skill sets and the potential for world-class expertise, but it also enables individuals to solve complex problems and stand out in the global economy. With the abundance of resources available and the increasing number of new fields and industries, becoming a polymath has never been easier. To embrace this advantage, individuals should focus on making atypical combinations of skills, continuously learn and integrate knowledge from various domains, and develop their own mental models to connect different disciplines. By doing so, they can position themselves for success and make a lasting impact in their chosen field or fields.