For example, Sergei wanted to hire every rocket scientist he could find because he thought “they were oddballs.” He wanted Google’s salespeople to be Olympics winners. He wanted them to be curious but also accomplished in something. At Google, he wanted to hire people who did more than just one thing. Sergei Brin, co-founder of Google, recognized the importance of polymathy. Nobel Prize-winning scientists are about 25 times more likely to sing, dance or act than the average scientist. Polymaths therefore, forge their own path: They have the resilience to pursue their interests in the face of the external expectations of specialization. This is what Polymaths do: integrate knowledge and insights from multiple disciplines. In a knowledge economy, learning across diverse interests and competencies and then applying your insights to your core specialty can separates you from the pack. In today’s knowledge economy, productivity is not measured only by quantitative output but rather, also by creative output. In the past, specialization created efficiencies and therefore improved productivity. Over time, the world tends to push us towards specialization.
Somehow through life, schools and stereotypes put us into buckets:
Polymaths Connect The DotsĪs children, we are fascinated by many different things. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.”ġ0 years later, when he was designing the first Macintosh Computer, it all came back to him. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.
#Polymath examples how to
Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.
“Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. In his 2005 Stanford Commencement address, Steve Jobs, one of the greatest inventors of our time, said the following: Polymaths therefore tend to be self-reliant, and are happy to teach themselves on their path to personal fulfillment. This usually pushes them into unfamiliar territory. The fun is in the journey, not the end-outcome. When Polymaths become interested in a phenomenon, they don't care where their investigation leads them. It is not a solved problem.īut what specific qualities can we look for? Here are three. You need to be practical but also be willing to fall in love. You need to be thorough but you also need to be excited. That said, the judgement of “this is the person I am going to invest with” is not a simple one. Therefore, before investing in a company, when evaluating CEOs, looking for qualities that enable polymaths to achieve success can be a fruitful endeavor. In fact, I believe great CEOs are polymaths. I believe great CEOs exhibit this combination. You make yourself rare by combining two or more “pretty goods'' until no one else has your mix.” It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare.Ĭapitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:ġ. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. “If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Perhaps that is the genesis of the following career advice:
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