The quote about being a jack of all trades is *not* originally derogatory towards people who are pretty good at a lot of things.
Here it is in full:
“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
Robert Greene originally wrote this in reference to William Shakespeare.
So next time someone tells you to “just pick one thing” or “it’s better to S P E C I A L I Z E,” maybe you can ignore them.
Competition
Yesterday, we made one of our coworkers’ dreams come true. Our ops & marketing team got together for a spelling bee.
Now, I don’t think many would consider me a competitive person. I’ve got a more laid-back go-with-the-flow kinda vibe, but that dormant side of me came out in full force yesterday. Partly because spelling’s kinda my jam, partly because that side of me wanted to show off a bit, too. 😅
Unfortunately my team lost by 1 point 😫. I kept getting tripped up by double letters in words like surveillance. At least now I’ll never forget how to spell it. 🤷🏻♀️ But I totally crushed it with pterodactyl & chrysanthemum, earning my team 5 points with those 2 words.
That whole experience got me thinking a bit about one of our core values at The Abs Company : Win.
I’ve honestly struggled with it. Reframing and defining what Win means for me and my position at TAC helped, but this spelling bee revealed that side of me that doesn’t get much exposure.
Familiarizing myself with that feeling and tapping into that desire to win – even to show off a little – I think that’s one of the things that can make the Win value more real to me & my work.
For the non-competitive ones, “Win” might feel kinda icky – it did for me – but I’m beginning to believe that all of us are at least a little competitive, especially where our strengths come into play. And it’s not a bad thing.
I’m coming to realize it’s what drives me to do my best, to continue to learn and grow, and to find better ways of doing things. It’s winning when I find the right piece of software or tweak some processes to make things run better.
Funny what a little spelling competition will do.
Stories Matter
I follow an Instagram account called The Tiny Chef Show. It’s a stop-motion animated character who loves to cook.
The account is engaging and lighthearted and whimsical and everything good, and the Tiny Chef has captured so many hearts.
His current story arc shows him going through a cooking show host school and sending out reels to networks in the hopes of getting his show produced.
Today… I hopped on the ‘gram during a quick brain break and the latest Tiny Chef video popped up. He was listening to several rejections on his answering machine and I lost it. A tiny animated character on Instagram made me cry.
Honestly, I cry easily anyway so it’s not that out of the ordinary, but why this? Why now?
I’m invested in this character – and the only way that happens is with storytelling that connects with the audience.
The way they choose to tell the story of a tiny chef who lives in a tree with a tiny stuffed kiwi bird and caterpillar as a pet engages so many. We see ourselves in that tiny green guy working through is speech impediment, his love for baking, affinity for small cute things (as he’s a small cute thing too), going through school and facing all that rejection…
I can’t wait to see if the Tiny Chef gets his show. In the meantime, I’m with him in the trenches, tears and all.