Break it down

The reason why so many people are failing at what they do is because they are biting more than they can chew. It’s nice to be versatile and well-grounded in so many things at the same time but when you realize your involvement in a project can lead to a disaster or affect your well being it’s better to quit.

Division of Labour is something as old as time. Specialization is another common term used in everyday life. Recently, a 2 storey building under construction collapsed at lekki, a popular area in Lagos, Nigeria. This birthed a lot of scrutinization of the construction industry. I’m a Quantity Surveyor, Practising and also in school to gather more qualification. The major department being looked into when disasters like this happen are the Civil engineering department and the builder department. The eyes on the QS isn't much since our Job deals majorly with the Cost of the project. That doesn’t mean a QS is free from being persecuted when there’s a mishap in a building. He quantified the project and is expected to go to the site at intervals to see if the materials he quantified is exactly what is in use. If he has done this, then the probability of him being charged has reduced a bit.

The constant collapse of buildings can be attributed to one major thing- Use of the wrong professionals. It’s common to see people with no form of education in construction acting as a contractor. They give themselves a special name -” Developer”. These are illiterates with no knowledge of what structure is, they are opportune to know one person who knows another in a high position.

After the teaching Job, the most abused job in the country has to be the Construction related job. The abuses range from having people or no knowledge of construction to the use of child Labour.

Moving away from the construction industry most of us are experiencing the same thing in life. We are forcing ourselves into holes that don't fit us. We are putting too many logs in the fire. We can’t do all or be masters of everything, we can specialise in a particular field and try to be the best at it. Employ the services of those good at a job to handle it for you; Craftsmen for their type and trade, and then we can ‘divvy up’ or delegate on a project together. If we collaborate we increase productivity and efficiency while everyone learns new skills and enjoys the work they do.

We live in a world of mass production, mass marketing and mass advertising. This means that there is endless noise, too much information and too many choices. And then there's the problem of scarcity. Indeed, the growing scarcity of time, energy and attention is perhaps one of the biggest issues we face as individuals, organisations and societies today.

It's all too much to take in. Therefore, we need to become masters of our own destiny. To do so, we need to hold ourselves to higher standards. We'll need to think about how we use our time and our attention.

If you are working alone you are only as good as your last project. If you are collaborating with others you are only as good as your next project.

We refine our skills and we make sure we put the right logs in the fire. We have to create a niche for ourselves.

Business is no different. We all want to be great but we need to know when to call in help and when to be hands-on.

I know you can do it all and I respect that but honestly, you will never get the recognition you deserve until you start specialising.

Conclusion

The recent years have seen the internet become flooded with people who claim to be experts in multiple trades. Many of which might even be true. But one problem is that the people who keep doing so many things solve nothing and create more problems for themselves and others.

Now the question is "Will you rather be Jack of few trades master at it or a Jack of all trades master of none?" I await your answers.

Thanks for Reading!🧗‍♂️💚👬