If someone wants herself or her child to develop a skill and excel in it, say playing a musical instrument, how intensely do they focus? Experts would argue that they start early in life, practise for as long as possible, and specialise. Journalist David Epstein argues that it pays more to generalise than to specialise. In Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialised World, Epstein uses data from surveys of individual cases of eminent musicians, inventors, scientists, artists, and athletes to argue that generalists, while they take longer to make their mark, tend to outshine specialists because of their varied interests, creativity, and their ability to see across domains. The path to excellence, therefore, lies not through early specialisation but in trying out multiple domains and broadening skills.

Among young musicians, one survey found, the most successful ones were those who found their instrument of choice only after having tried other ones. Scientists who won a Nobel prize, as opposed to the scientists who didn’t, were 22 times more likely to have also tried their skills as actors, dancers, musicians, or other performers. Epstein gives the example of tennis player Roger Federer, whose parents encouraged him to try various sports, including basketball, handball, skiing, skateboarding, swimming, table tennis, and wrestling, before he finally chose tennis.

Epstein not only argues in favour of experimenting with various skills, but also that one should quit frequently He cautions, though, that it is critically important to know when to quit, and suggests premeditating possible scenarios that would warrant quitting a job before even accepting it.