Friday , July 5 2024

Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

A typical book written by investigative journalist. Both, the title and subtitle of this book are descriptive. In this wide-ranging book, author, David Epstein, refers a lot of books and stories. I’m kind of a generalist myself and this book affirms to my views on the “wicked” world. The ability to apply knowledge broadly comes from broad reading/training, experimenting and trying lots of things. “Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialization. It is the ability to integrate broadly”.

I was familiar with some of the books and stories referred by the author in this book, however I was fascinated to read how Nintendo engineer, Yokoi, used withered technology to build competitive products and solutions. I was intrigued by the story Frances Hesselbein, the lady who had four professional positions, all president or CEO, and never applied for one. The story of NASA’s tragic decision to launch the space shuttle Challenger was also fascinating.

I recommend this book if you have to read it. The only problem it has so many personal stories that most probably you have read them in other books.   

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