Masters of Some

YOU’RE PROBABLY familiar with the saying, ‘Jack of all trades’. Perhaps you’ve even been referred to as such. The phrase is often used as a compliment to describe someone who possesses a wide range of skills. Frequently, the next part, ‘master of none’ is added, either disparagingly by a (snarky) observer or self-effacingly by a modest gent, to indicate that they haven’t attained expertise in any one field.

What you might not know, because it rarely gets uttered, is that there’s a third part to the saying. The complete phrase, revealed to me by Waqas Ahmed, author of The Polymath: Unlocking The Power of Human Versatility is this: “Jack of all trades, master of none, though oftentimes better than a master of one”.

That the third part has been culturally erased is telling of the prestige we accord specialisation, says Ahmed. Different cultures have their own variations. For example, the Chinese (always good with proverbs), say ‘Equipped with knives all over, yet none is sharp’. Here’s the slightly less lyrical truth: being a human Swiss army knife is perhaps your best chance at forging a diverse and stimulating career path, achieving excellence in one or more fields and living a rich life.

So, what is a polymath? The term itself derives from Ancient Greek to mean a person with “many learnings”. How many? Ahmed puts the number at three or more and defines a polymath as someone who possesses high levels of openness and curiosity, which gives them the versatility to excel in multiple fields. While he’s either too modest or too stringent to admit it, Ahmed is something of a renaissance man himself. Currently artistic director at The Khalili Collections, one of the most highly regarded private art collections in the world, he’s also an established painter in his