David Epstein – Wide or Deep?

My guest this week is David Epstein. David is a writer and researcher extraordinaire and the author of two great books. His second, Range, is out today and I highly recommend it. We discuss the pros and cons of both the generalist and specialist mindsets in detail and go down many interesting trails along the way. Please enjoy our conversation.

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Show Notes

1:12 - (First Question) – What he uncovered in “The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” that led him to his latest book

            2:38 – Debate with Malcolm Gladwell (YouTube)

4:12 – What did the public pay most attention to and what did they gloss over

7:56 – How his views on nature vs nurture shifted during the process of writing The Sports Gene

10:05 – Blending practice with your nature

13:04 – His process of reading 10 journal articles a day as part of his research

19:06 – Exploring his new book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World”, and his idea of Martian tennis

23:03 – Idea of the cult of the head start and how we set up our own feedback loops

28:58 – What does his research say about the nations education system

30:42 – The Flynn Effect chapter

33:54 – Hacks for learning

37:52 – The concept of struggle and harnessing the power of it

46:31 – Personality changes and how to drive those changes in a positive way

52:00 – Using the outside perspective in businesses for more productive outcomes and how it applied to Nintendo

            52:59 – Josh Wolfe Podcast Episode

1:04:45 – Other examples of using withered technologies, 3M

1:09:00 – The arc of his work and how it has evolved

1:13:54 – Taking a different view on problems

            1:17:52 – Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives

1:18:04– Anyway to change these bad trends with new strategies

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag