Mastery and Inflection Points

In the book "So Good They Can't Ignore You", Cal Newport presents the idea that we should develop a rare and valuable skill. But what skills should we choose to master?

I will extend the book's idea and argue that we should choose skills based on inflection points that are happening around us.

Inflection points are events that change the current paradigm and will have an enormous impact on how things are working now. There are many types of inflection points.

Regulatory inflection points means new regulations are introduced by governing bodies and companies have to follow them. An example would be in the insurance industry, a new accounting standard called IFRS is introduced in recent years and some reporting need to follow this standard. Those that have the opportunity to work on IFRS when they are first introduced back then are highly sought after by many companies as they now have a rare and valuable skills that industry needs.

Technological inflection points happen when new technologies change consumer behavior and introduce new business models. Mobile internet is one of them where we can now access the internet easily from a device in our pockets without having to carry a huge computer with us. Many companies were trying to optimize their website for mobile devices or trying provide their service through a mobile app. Developers who developed skills to build mobile apps will have a rare and valuable skill.

Natural disaster are also inflection points that changes the structure of society. The recent covid pandemic causes a huge change in our daily life where we are now quarantined at home and it becomes inconvenient to do shopping outside. Those who starts E-commerce businesses addresses the consumer's pain point now that they can buy stuff from the comfort and safety of their homes. Running and marketing an E-commerce business becomes a rare and valuable skill.

We should pay close attention to events that are happening around us and spot those inflections points. Many new opportunities can be found and we can have an edge by developing skills that are rare and valuable.