I read an interesting post yesterday from Seth Godin (here) about the value of being sharp rather than "well rounded." Today's conventional wisdom teaches our kids that they need to excel at academics, athletics, some form of art and socially to gain acceptance into a top college and have success in life. Seth's point is that no one cares if a heart surgeon is well rounded, the patient simply wants him to be the best heart surgeon in the world.
I understand the point and offer two considerations. First, being the best in the world at anything requires a world view that only comes from foray's into other fields. A heart surgeon vying for the title of "greatest" needs technical skills and know-how and a deep reservoir of understanding of what it means to be a human being. The latter isn't taught in medical school and I would personally love it if my heart surgeon was an accomplished watchmaker in his spare time. A watch is a fine place to practice.
Second, excellence in activities tends to cross-pollinate. Creative writing has little in common with being a lawyer, but precision in language is imperative in both. Sailing and flying are thoroughly intertwined even though they occur in completely different media. Each activity becomes a story of pattern recognition as similarities and differences emerge.
Jack of all trades can mean master of none or might lead to a level of mastery of many and nuance that can not be developed over 10,000 hours in a practice room.
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