Does Wearing Too Many Hats Make You Look Like a Clown?

Lately, we are hearing a lot about multitasking. Apparently, even the simplest tasks performed simultaneously, overload and slow down our brain circuits to the point of crashing. Into the nearest obstacle, most likely; a fact known since the earliest days of humankind, only recently promoted as a scientific discovery.

Not to bash science any further, they also found out that diverse and complicated brain activities, performed consecutively, is the best way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Naturally, brainflex gadgets are popping up everywhere to be consumed as supplements for thought-deficient people.

But, let’s not confuse multitasking with diversity. What do we know about the perils and benefits of wearing too many hats in our professional lives? Our expert-based culture pushes us into very narrow specializations as if knowledge could be obtained only by drilling deep through a pinhole. Jacks-of-all-trades are often portrayed as superficial and flighty while labeling someone a Renaissance man or a woman is anything but a compliment today. An entrepreneur might get the recognition but not for long: continuing to fulfill many roles past the start-up phase is viewed at best as a lack of focus.

Yet, we are bombarded with messages that learning new skills is essential to our bread-winning abilities - as long as you stay close enough to your primary field of expertise. What a shame, if you ask me. After all, being resourceful and adaptable species won us the evolutionary prize. Our curiosity and willingness to tackle any task, to turn our lives upside-down if we need to, in any age and anywhere, is far more valuable in the long run than any resumé-building technique du jour.

Jobs and careers come and go, new technologies wipe out entire sectors and form new ones in a flash. Be proud of your headgear collection and don’t get spooked by eucalyptus-nibbling specialists. They are the endangered species, not you.