But I hate Math…
Listening to a doctoral student defend his proposal for his dissertation on Polymathy was a life changing experience for me. How had I gone my entire life and not know about this???!!! Okay, maybe I knew bits and pieces, but not like he described.
So, what is a Polymath? According to Peter Hollins, “A Polymath is someone who is an expert in multiple fields.” Polymaths you have likely heard of include Hedy Lamar, Albert Einstein, Leonardo DaVinci, and Maya Angelou. Genius is not required and Polymaths aren’t great at everything, but they are great at the few things that resonate with them. Equally as important is Polymath’s learn continuously, are interested in very different areas, and creativity is a key element. It’s not merely about accumulating knowledge, but about how you apply and express it.
I’ll provide some resources for additional reading at the end of this post. Honestly, we could spend our time over the next many years discussing Polymathy and only scratch the surface. However, my goal, as always, is to keep topics approachable and easy for you to investigate more on your own. Just know that much of what I am sharing here comes from the books noted at the end of this post. Hollis even provides steps for developing areas of expertise. Search the internet for more (so much more) information. For our purposes, I want to stress a few things and then you can learn as much (or as little) as you care to on your own.
As you begin learning about the concept of Polymathy, you’ll soon read about the difference between generalists and specialists. It sounds discounting, but Polymaths are generalists which means they know a lot about a lot; whereas, specialists know a helluva lot about one thing. Both generalists and specialists have their place. A generalist in medicine would be a primary care provider who sees you for preventative care and the occasional snotty nose or reminding you to take off those few (or not so few) pounds. The generalist knows their stuff and where their expertise ends. They know when you need to be seen by a specialist and refer you as appropriate.
In the world of business, I think, Polymaths have a more difficult time because they don’t fit the mould of a typical employee or job title. Polymaths are known to make their own roles and fill spaces their colleagues do not see. A boss who appreciates the benefit of a Polymath is thrilled because they look great to the C-suite and they give a long leash to their Polymath’s creativity. Unfortunately, the boss who claims the benefit of a Polymath, hogs the spotlight, or takes credit for the Polymath’s innovation wreaks havoc on the psyche of the Polymath. It can go either way and the latter is debilitating to the Polymath who already feels like the odd duck. Trust me, I know first hand how both feels.
You’ll, also, learn about the “T-shape” versus the “Comb-shape” analogy. The T represents the specialist who knows that one thing really well. The Comb represents the different areas the Polymath has delved into. The more teeth on the comb, the more areas of knowledge.
What make Polymaths truly special is their curiosity and the way they approach that curiosity. They don’t waste time identifying as anyone in particular—they see their identities as whatever they need to be to help them do whatever it is they want to do— rather than standing on a platform of what they do, what they know, who they know, and what they can learn. Simply put, they will duck and weave in pursuit of an answer, and their preconceptions, assumptions, and pride are put to the side. Polymaths are scrappy!
This is a profound idea that bears repeating. The concept of ourselves shapes the experiences and knowledge to which we are willing to expose ourselves. With enough exposure (or repeated thought) a self-fulfilling prophecy will manifest. Yep, tell yourself often enough that you are this or that and you’ll eventually take actions to support that idea until it becomes true. Polymaths are willing to set aside their concept of self to follow a “truth” to the extent they literally risk becoming someone else.
That’s where Polymathy struck home for me. When thinking of myself as a Polymath or what I had previously called myself “a holistic interdisciplinarian”, I see my many areas of expertise as part of a tapestry and I am only pulling on this thread or that one to understand who we are, but each thread is really an aspect of myself, an aspect of you, and an aspect of the Universe. To disregard any thread is to disregard part of our humanity.
For me, that is the beauty and benefit of Polymathy. Polymaths believe that with time, effort, and energy, we will eventually reach our solution or goal. Sadly, we believe that other people merely have preconceived notions about what is possible and what is it possible of their reach- that is so sad to me because we all have vast potential.
I’ll wrap this up and bring it home. Sometimes, an expertise comes from a need or choice. For example, when I took a job out of need in the court system and landed in mental inquest and disability court, I felt that I could not do my job well until I read the Kentucky Revised Statute on that area of law. That is where my need to survive intersected with curiosity and I became a subject matter expert. Broke as a joke, but SME nonetheless. Similar stories ring true as I developed my expertise in healthcare administration; teaching, learning and development; project/program/portfolio management & methodologies, and so many software applications that I have lost count. These are subjects that I am excited to share with you; however, they were ones I chased out of need until they became a passion. On the other hand, writing about critical discourse analysis, how language has the ability to shape beliefs until we create self-fulfilling prophecies, and how we literally wire our brains to manifest our thoughts into reality…well, that’s pure passion. However…if we are shaped by our experiences (and we are), perhaps even CDA and SFPs were chased out of need until they became my passion??? I suppose we shall see as we go along.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and that it has given you food for thought. Not everyone can be a Hedy Lamar, but we can grow and stretch to the point we feel like we have returned to more like ourselves instead of the square pegs fitting into the round holes that we became along the way of adulting.
Resources
Do you have a Polymathic Personality? (Forbes) https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/01/16/do-you-have-a-polymathic-personality-a-psychologist-explains/?sh=4e387cf0100c
Embracing Polymathy in a Diversified World (Forbes) https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2024/01/25/embracing-polymathy-in-a-specialized-world/?sh=6d5a8aeb48e4
Polymathy: A New Kind of Diversity That Could Take Your Business to the Cutting Edge https://www.td.org/insights/polymathy-a-new-kind-of-diversity-that-could-take-your-business-to-the-cutting-edge
Polymath: Master Multiple Disciplines, Learn New Skills, Think Flexibly, and Become an Extraordinary Autodidact (Learning how to Learn Book 3) by Peter Holmes
Polymathy: The benefits of being a polymath https://www.iberdrola.com/talent/polymathy
The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility by Waqas Ahmed
