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Skill Stacking, Interdisciplinary, 4th kind of luck, quantity often beats quality when building skills
Aerin Ridgway
June 12, 2024
Hey, whatās shackinā?
When was the last time you had to learn something hard? Wrap your brain around a new concept, process or technology?
I have been in an excel-hole for about 3 weeks now, and fcuk is my brain in a fog. The uncertainty, confusion, and frustration of being inept. Followed by the smoothness of getting things done once you know what you need to do. The difference between fumbling with knowing what to do through trial and error and just knowing what to do, is quite incredible.
It has really emphasized for me how much time (cost) there is to learning something new, over getting better at what you already know. The cost becomes exponentially less and rewards exponentially greater the more you become an expert within your strengths.
Remember that being number 1 in something where there are 7 billion people is much harder than skill stacking and being in the top 5% of 5 thingsā in which case you are now a cross-discipline expert the few (if anyone) can compete with.
x
stack āem up
-stacking is to create simple and repeatable routines using ideas, tools and systems that build momentum and synergy.
Skill stacking, knowledge stacking, and tech stacking make for an absolute dynamo combo. Here are some quick reads for the kicks and giggles of defining your own stack:
This is a tiny fluff piece that speaks to still stacking
Darius Forouz and I keep crossing paths; his post is directed toward adding value and, therefore, being more likely to be successful. Or, in other words, building the (best) 4th type of luck.
āIf you think extraordinary talent and a maniacal pursuit of excellence are necessary for success, I say thatās just one approach, and probably the hardest. When it comes to skills, quantity often beats quality.ā
sharp ideas
The phrase āmental modelā is an overarching term for any sort of concept, framework, or worldview that you carry around in your mind. Mental models help you understand life.
Multidisciplinarity vs Interdisciplinarity
Multidisciplinarity draws on knowledge from different disciplines but stays within their boundaries. Interdisciplinarity analyzes, synthesizes and harmonizes links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole.
Innovation happens in the crossing of disciplines, new ideas are formed and systems created.
Business owners who start something new often need multiple skill sets and knowledge bases to get the business off the ground by themselves.
Product expert, bookkeeper, sales, marketing, HRā¦ They need a little of everything until they can delegate the things that are the least cost-effective or the things they are worst at. Even still, in the early stages, itās best to hire generalists until the workload allows for specialists.
Even still, people at the top of anything are often multi-disciplined, crossing subject matters and skills many times over.
It seems exhausting (and it is), but it is also rewarding. Without continuous learning, one becomes stagnant and bored.
If youāre motivated by money, having interdisciplinary (cross-functional?) knowledge is a great way to earn more. How do you identify?
quote Iām musing
Buddha said, āwhat you think, you becomeā¦ā so while quotes wonāt change your life, I do think they can shift your perspective, and that can be life changing.
āThe idea of a talent stack is that you can combine ordinary skills until you have enough of the right kind to be extraordinary. You donāt have to be the best in the world at any one thing. All you need to succeed is to be good at a number of skills that fit well together.
For example, Iām not much of an artist, not much of a business expert, and my writing skills are mostly self-taught. Iām funny, but not the funniest person in my town. The reason I can succeed without any world-class skills is that my talent stack is so well-designed. (Thatās intentional, by the way.)ā
See here, Scott Adams doesnāt even define himself as an expert in the disciplines he combines to create something extraordinary.
This just means that if you can mix and match things, skills, ideas that are very specific and high value or volume you can offer something no one else can - a unique selling point.
Thatās all for this week.
You can also email me here if you want to share any feedback, or share some cool things you have found.
Until next week,
-a.