The Problem with Knowing a Little About Everything

I catch myself thinking that I used to avoid this topic somehow. Like, being a well-rounded person is cool, right. You read books, you know your way around tech, you code a bit, you know some design, you understand basic repairs, you can talk about almost anything. At first glance you look smart, interesrting, easy to hang out with. Not boring at all. Then, with age, you start to notice the catch. You seem to know a lot, but if you dig deeper, it is all pretty shallow. Not the bottom, just the top layer.Go a little lower and that’s it, you start swimming. And the worst part is that you don’t realize this for a long time. I figured it out when I was alreadty over forty . Not super late, but definitely not twenty.

The problem is that being well-rounded is often confused with being a professional. And those are not the same thing at all. Being a real specialist is when you can actually carry weight in one direction. When people come to you not to chat, but to solve a specific problem, and you solve it. You don’t start looking around, trying to remember articles, forums, or thinking “I’ve seen this somewhere.”

And this is where I got a very clear example in my life. One of my coworkers. Zero show-off. If he knows something, he just does it. If he doesn’t, he calmly says, “I don’t know.” No excuses, no smart face, no trying to wiggle out.Just “I don’t know.” And damn, it turned out to be awesome.

First, it’s honest. With yourself and with others. Second, it sets boundaries right away. People don’t run to someone like that with evrey little thing. They don’t expect miracles. They don’t dump tasks on him like “well, you’re smart, figure it out.” He doesn’t pretend to be an encyclopedia. And a best part is that it removes a ton of pressure. When you stop acting like you’re supposed to know everything, life gets noticeably easier. People bother you less :( Fewer expectations. Fewer disappointments, for them and for you.

I also realized one more thing. Being narrow but strong as a specialist is not a downside at all. It’s a huge plus.Yes, youmight not keep up a conversation about everything in the world. Yes, you’re not a walking Google. But in your field , you stand firm. And people feel that. Being well-rounded is nice as a bonus.As background stuff for life, for curiosity, for yourself. But not as the foundation of a profession. When it becomes the foundation, you get scattered, burned out, and stuck with the feeling that you’re always busy but getting very little done.

So yeah, I also thought for a long time that you need to know everything at once. Now I get it. It’s much more comfortbale to honestly say “that’s not my thing” or “I don’t know this.” And then just move on with your life. Calmly, without extra expectations. Sometimes admitting you don’t know is the most grown-up and the most convenient skill of all.

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