“A jack of all trades is a master of none”

You’ve probably heard it many times before, and you’re quite sure you understand what it means.

Its an idiom used to describe someone who dabbles in many things, but isn’t particularly good at any one of them. And it’s a phrase that is usually used as an insult, right?

What most people don’t realise is that this version of the idiom is incomplete. The full (and correct) one is:

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often better than a master of one.”

The latter part of the sentence fundamentally changes the entire meaning of the idiom. Instead of a negative connotation, the full version implies that generalising may be more desirable instead.

Masters are, well, masters at their craft. They can charge a premium for their services, and will probably complete them to an impeccable standard.

A Jack of all trades, on the other hand, knows a decent amount about many things, but will probably give a less than perfect outcome. They cannot charge as much as Masters, as they haven’t taken the time and effort to fully engross themselves into a specific profession.

The strength of being a Jack, however, lies in the options that they have. Jacks can easily bounce between ventures if they felt like it, being free from the clutches of 'specialising'.

In my own life, I’d much rather be a Jack (I’d rather be Zack but you know what I mean), than a Master. It would be miserable to limit myself to one topic that I understood deeply for the rest of my life than to explore a multitude of exciting activities and subjects. If I specialised I’d probably be a very boring guest at dinner parties anyway.

That’s not to say that Masters don’t have a place in the world, of course they do. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have hundreds of tall skyscrapers around the world, or be able to put a man on the moon (honestly what an achievement!).

But at the end of the day, there is always an option about how you want to live your life. Specialising isn’t the only way to become successful, and you can always walk a path less traveled, even if people mock you along the way and call you Jack (yes, pun intended).