 First edition | |
| Author | David Epstein |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books (US) Macmillan (UK) |
Publication date | 2019 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 339 |
| ISBN | 978-1-5098-4349-7 |
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World is a 2019 book byDavid Epstein, in which he expands on the points from his previous bookThe Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance to make a more general argument against overspecialization. In the book, he argues thatrange – defined as more diverse experience across multiple fields – is more relevant in today's society than specialization because thewicked problems of the modern world require bridging experience and knowledge from multiple fields to foster solutions.Range was a #1New York Times best seller.[1]
Epstein's basic argument is that focus on early specialization is unwarranted. Starting in the world of sports he contrastsTiger Woods (who specialized early as a golfer) withRoger Federer (who played numerous sports, including tennis, before specializing only on tennis later than many of his peers) and argues that when he looks more broadly at successful people, they "seemed to have more Roger than Tiger in their development stories".[2] Epstein then argues that while specialization is useful for the kinds of problems in closed predictable environments like a chess game or playing music, the modern world is characterized by wicked problems which requires us to deal with a new situation where we can't rely on perfecting from known experience. As he puts it: "And that is what a rapidly changing, wicked world demands – conceptual reasoning skill that can connect new ideas and work across contexts".[3] He then expands on this general idea to argue thatrange, combining knowledge and experience from multiple fields and late specialization is a better focus than early specialization. Some critics, including Jim Holt and Nicole Smartt Serres, see the argument as a response toMalcolm Gladwell's popularization of the10,000-Hour Rule that argues for early specialization,[4][5] which itself is based on the work ofK. Anders Ericsson.[6]
The book received a positive review inThe New York Times that wrote "Although the book unfolds according to a formula that has become familiar—story, study, lesson; rinse and repeat—the storytelling is so dramatic, the wielding of data so deft and the lessons so strikingly framed that it's never less than a pleasure to read".[5] The book was also shortlisted (as one of six books) for theMcKinsey andFinancial Times Business Book of the Year Award.[7]