
Therefore, organizations aiming to create competitive advantage by pushing the boundaries of knowledge should carefully consider the nuanced tradeoffs between specialized and diversified researchers when strategizing about hiring the optimal types of expertise. Even back in the time that he lived, he was a jack of all trades, master of all. How should organizations achieve the best balance? We argue and show evidence that diversified researchers, individuals routinely criticized for their lack of knowledge depth, are more likely than specialized researchers of similar ability to integrate new knowledge from beyond their domains of expertise to create impactful innovations. Leonardo Da Vinci was an expert architect, sculptor, painter and more.
#Jack of all trades series
Yet, coordinating such combinations increasingly requires larger teams as knowledge accumulation causes researchers to specialize in narrower areas. Cirkus proudly presents Jack of All Trades, a wacky 1 minute animated series centered on Jack, a regular guy with an extraordinary imagination hes the child. Specifically, diverse combinations of knowledge generate the most impactful discoveries. Organizations where R&D is core to driving competitive advantage face important tradeoffs when hiring researchers.
#Jack of all trades professional
We also examine the role of personal preferences and professional incentives as antecedents of diversification and find that culture, age and intellectual freedom are positively associated with the propensity to diversify successfully. We evaluate the impact of Kinect and its embodiment of new knowledge on a set of ability-matched, diversity-varying researchers without prior experience in motion-sensing and find that diversified researchers explore more successfully than their more specialized peers. To approach an ideal experiment, we (a) employ a matching procedure and (b) exploit the unexpected adoption of Microsoft Kinect as a motion-sensing technology in research. The bards Jack of All Trades feature says: Starting at 2nd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesnt already include your proficiency bonus. Meaning: Often used in negative light to describe someone who can do many different things, but is not particularly good at.


We consider the role of individual-level diversification as a mechanism through which skilled researchers engage in successful exploration-recognizing and integrating new knowledge external to one's domains of expertise.
