What does it mean to be a master? I would say a master of something is one who is proficient in that thing possessing specialised yet extensive knowledge in it.
We all know of the true wise-saying that goes “jack of all trades master of none.” Today we have people wrestling against this true saying especially in the labour market where people would want to be accepted as fit for any job vacancy. People would describe themselves with this sayings “jack of all trade, master of ALL!”
When registering my enterprise “Crystal Frames” with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria, I was given a list containing different fields of endeavour to choose from. From this list I was to choose three. Not less, not more. If you had never seen a list of this nature before, you’d not know how much business opportunities are available to us. Right there many bulbs began to light up in my head, but I had to quickly look for the switch box to put them all off and keep only a few on. When I was choosing from this list, I wanted to choose from it in a way that anyone who may come across my certificate would see an enterprise with a focus. I didn’t want to choose a combination of Medical Service, Plumbing, and Security, neither did want to choose Military, Catering, and Terrorism [there is no terrorism in the list. Let me not be quoted to have said so, lest those men in helmets and boots start chasing about the streets].
It was not an easy task as even the lawyers there were making life difficult for me. Maybe they wanted something from me. I wanted just what will make a focused outlook. So, with God helping, and having maneuvered my way round the lawyers I got my choice approved choosing only things bordering around graphics.
Here is a short dialogue.
Client: Do you print here?
Printer: Yup! You are in the right place.
Client: Let me see samples of your past jobs.
Printer: Here you go.
Client: Hmmm. Pretty impressive. Please send the PDF to my email I’d like to show it to my boss.
Printer: Sorry, but we deal only with printers not with computers.
Client: How do you print then?
Printer: We print by engraving.
[Silence]
Client: What century do you think we are in?
Printer: Century of wisdom friend. Have you ever heard the WISE saying “jack of all trade master of none?”
Client: Yeah, but how does that apply here.
Printer: That is why we do nothing but printing, no IT, no graphics, nothing electronic, just printing.
The dialogue above just shows us how the saying like every other true saying can be quite easily be misinterpreted.
To be a master of something is to know all about it. As I defined it with the words “specialised yet extensive,” that’s just what being a master entails. Versatility makes a master.
Being a master is quite tasking, I agree. Nothing honourable is not tasking.
