Are you a Jack of all trades?

If you worry that a broad-based experience is a weakness, my brother’s words may help you.

"The barriers to knowledge are tumbling; the application of knowledge, skill, in other words, remains in scarce supply."

A common gripe from clients is what a university lecturer called “jugs to mugs” – a data dump of supposed knowledge into our heads. Take these recent observations:

😬 “The due diligence report highlighted a few potential issues with the counterparty, but nothing on what to do about it.”

😬 “You get a score about your climate footprint but nothing on where to start, the basis for the analysis, or the trade-offs (risk, reward, cost, benefit).”

😬 “They scored our suppliers on various risk and sustainability criteria without considering the context. So what if one provider we used to ship one item across Asia was involved in a fraud in the Americas four years ago, and one of their tankers spilt oil in West Africa nearly a decade ago!? What is the risk to what me, to us!?”

😬 “The training solution looks fancy and has various features, but we’re trying to shape behaviours, not teach people Spanish. How do we engage, communicate, and help people?”

😬 “The ‘risk assessment’ cost north of $100,000 and told us about local laws, cited corruption indexes, and told us it was a high-risk market. Great. Thanks. I’d never have worked that out from three minutes on Google. What I need are details. Who, when, how, where, and what to do about it.”

The good news is that as the barriers to knowledge—often all smoke and mirrors, mangled English, and acronyms—tumble, we’re getting more savvy. Clients are asking probing questions to assess thinking, problem-solving, customisation, and who will do the work (they’re wise to the bait and switch, where fancy partners pass the actual work to under-supported juniors).

Your knowledge isn’t your USP (unique selling proposition); your skill is. Skill can often be applied as you build knowledge. For instance, none of us know exactly how to weigh and calibrate sustainability risks – from modern slavery to greenhouse gases to fraud – across vast supply chains. However, we have the skills to know that any such framework will need context, customisation, and clarity to be rightsized. Knowledge is overrated; skills are underrated. Play up your skills; they’re in short supply!