Range
I recently read Range by David Epstein. I won't review the book here or give much away, but the major concept was that the skills and experience you acquire from areas in life, can be applied elsewhere even in completely unrelated fields. I couldn't agree with this more, and it made me deeply analyse the skills I have acquired over the years.
My journey has led me to jobs in science, consulting and banking. Most recently, during my time in banking, I was applying the same approaches I had in analysing data sets from scientific experiments to large sets of transactions alongside the Risk Management team. As the most junior individual on this team, I was still able to overcome problems with the data analysis that the rest of the team who had degrees and more experience couldn't. Additionally, when presenting the data, I was able to do this in a much more clear and effective manner as a result of the lessons I had learned during my time in consulting. I was able to shift the team’s obsessive use of memos, which were large word documents with useless information, into more concise powerpoint slides that were being presented to the executive team and board. Arguably, powerpoint is not the best way of delivering information, but for this bank this was a huge step forward.
When faced with numbers that didn't quite make sense, I was shocked by how rigid the risk management team could be, and how I was required to find solutions to the problem because they just couldn't. The reliance on numbers, and the very narrow experience they possessed in their field constricted their vision and made them unable to overcome problems that would arise or make useful insights from the data. In science, when the data doesn't quite look right, that triggers a whole different direction of research to find reasons for it and solutions to it, and consulting is a career built on solving tough problems.
The power of Range was further emphasised to me while reading “War Doctor,” by David Nott. This was an absolutely amazing book, but what really stuck with me was a consultant vascular surgeon who learnt skills in multiple medical disciplines and was operating in war zones conducting plastic surgery, C-sections and even life saving surgery following instructions in a text message. The broad range of knowledge acquired across the medical field undoubtedly created a surgeon able to handle the continuous flow of complex problems, and had a huge impact on the patients he treated both at home and in war zones.
These lessons are so important because people heading to university shouldn't base their degree decision on their future career. As I have mentioned before I have had friends with a background in history enter consulting, and others with a classics degree enter investment banking. Even with vocational careers such as medicine, we should be more open to the graduate entry path. The life experience I have had since the age of 18 has completely changed me but also allows me to empathise more strongly with people going through difficulty as a result of my own experiences. At the age of 16 you should not be making a decision on your career. Invest in yourself, your skills and gain a broad range of experience. This will allow you to bring unique insights and push you to stand out among your peers in your future career.
Really consider what you will enjoy most and where you will learn the most. You’ll undoubtedly be better for it and be able to apply these skills to your life and further on in your career. I am not saying always pursue a life of learning, but let your life experience and the skills that you collect from jobs in different industries drive your own unique solution to problems.
