The mojologic blog

We are all guilty of occasional jargon abuse. After all, we must adapt to our surroundings. Assimilate. Seek to be understood. People in this strange land we call 'work' utter ritualistic phrases that produce knowing looks from fellow cube dwelling knowledge workers....

Thought Leaders, Innovators and Disruptors, Oh My! If you are an avid conference attendee you may have noticed a 'same sameness' in the presentation style amongst the headline acts. You have never heard the speaker before, but somehow you sense an eerie recollection...

According to the World Economic Forum, the 4th Industrial Revolution will usher in a set of technological changes that will render our current capability inadequate. In fact, the WEF’s list of skills has been substantially reordered and updated since it was last published in 2015.

Disruption is certainly at the heart of the shift. Different industries are affected at different rates and the impact will vary across the globe. For example, it has been noted that the financial services sector has yet to experience radical transformation, unlike media and entertainment.

A Multipotentialite is one who chooses to pursue and excel in more than more than one field.  Generally the term refers to individuals who are talented in disparate disciplines.  They don’t just operate in multiple areas, they stand out in at least two.

Multipotentialites might be polymaths, generalists, ubermensch, career scanners or renaissance people.  They might have portfolios careers.  Often, they have achieved mastery in seemingly incoherent disciplines.  A negative frame might label the multipotentialite as a dilettante, half-baked. a jack of all trades (master of none).

Have you ever wondered why some of the most talented kids in class didn’t go on to excel in that area later in life? Why some people who seem not to have a discernible talent end up becoming outrageously successful? Of course there are many reasons for this but an interesting area of research worth considering is Angela Duckworth’s work on passion and perseverance in her book ‘Grit’.