Use Talent Stacking to Build Your Competitive Advantage
Discover your own personal niche
{A picture of a dry stone wall from the West of Ireland}
In a previous post, I discussed the importance of focus and used the adage (or what is commonly used of it), “a jack of all trades but a master of none….” as the title. That article focused (pun intended) on the skill of intense focus, and learning to sit down and give sole attention to one task at a time.
This piece is most definitely not an attempt to counter that argument.
The full quote is actually:
“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
The second part of that quote (which I was previously unaware of) changes the meaning behind the saying, and it fits very nicely into what I want to write about today.
The ideas in this article are based on the concept of Talent Stacking by the late Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip.
It is a simple concept. Scott realised that it is intensely difficult to become a top performer in a single field; by nature, there can only be a select few.
For example, the likelihood of becoming a Premier League football player, an NBA star or a Formula 1 driver is so low that only the best of the best make the grade.
Only a small, highly talented, and intensely focused group will reach those positions.
That precludes roughly 99.9% of the population.
Talent stacking is a way for generally talented people to stand out and create their own personal niche.
What is Talent Stacking?
I’m glad you asked!
I’ll start with the words of the man who invented/discovered the concept, Scott Adams:
“For example, I’m a famous syndicated cartoonist who doesn’t have much artistic talent, and I’ve never taken a college-level writing class. But few people are good at both drawing and writing. When you add in my ordinary business skills, my strong work ethic, my risk tolerance, and my reasonably good sense of humor, I’m fairly unique.”
At its most basic level, it is the combining of multiple skills, interests and even personality traits in a unique way that together create something that no one else (or very few) can offer.
We are multifaceted beings; we tend to have multiple things that interest us on some level, and in some of those interests, we tend to know more about them than most other people.
With a little extra research and study, we can build an even greater base of knowledge in that area.
That is our anchor. For Scott, that was his likely drawing ability. Alone, that would not have been enough to propel him to the level of success that he would enjoy.
When coupled with his writing, his humour, his risk tolerance and his business skills, it became something else entirely.
Instead of resting on our laurels, we need to think about our other skills, interests or traits and start combining them.
What would surprise most people is that reading a book or two can be enough to raise their level of knowledge on that topic above, approximately 70% of the population.
It is at the intersection of these skills where the magic happens, and how uniquely combining them can lead to the creation of something totally new.
It doesn’t have to be one or two skills; the more the better. The bigger the “stack”, the more you differentiate yourself.
Let’s look at an example. I think the podcaster David Senra is a good one. He now has two highly successful podcasts, but it is the Founders Podcast where he built his success.
He loves to read autobiographies and biographies of great founders and leaders in the world of business; he also loves to talk about them and share his ideas. He is obsessive about this.
For his podcast, he reads a book a week and then passionately shares that information with his listeners. Over time, he has created hundreds of podcasts, attracted likely millions of followers and developed a corpus of knowledge on business.
As an added bonus, he has been able to build relationships with many different founders after they became listeners of the podcast.
Opportunity
The idea of talent stacking offers many of us opportunities that we no doubt wouldn’t have if we were to simply pursue a single craft.
This is not to say that pursuing a single skill cannot produce results; there are plenty of successful people who are in the top 10, 15 or even 20% of their field who enjoy a certain level of success.
An accountant who is in the top 10-15% of accountants can still enjoy a certain level of financial success. Whether or not they enjoy that line of work is the next question.
People sit in their cars day after day and commute to jobs they don’t particularly like to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families. Some don’t mind it; they see it as a means to an end and then enjoy their spare time. Others hate it but see little choice in the matter and are willing to do what they need to do.
Others end up in a job that fulfils them, that challenges them, and each day they get out of bed energised.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach; we must all find what works for us, but in my opinion, we must be able to find some form of passion in our job, as there is only so long we can white-knuckle it through things we feel we must simply endure.
Talent stacking can help us find a path that works for us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article!
Did anything in this post make you think?
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