Mastery Archetypes: #1 The Dabbler
A little bit of this, a little bit of that, move on. The dabbler's approach to life...
In his book “Mastery”, George Leonard describes four archetypes, or categories of personality traits, in relation to different ways of pursuing our interests.
The four archetypes are The Dabbler, The Hacker, The Obsessive, and The Master.
Firstly, let’s meet the Dabbler.
The dabbler archetype refers to an individual who lacks commitment and discipline in pursuing a skill, activity, or relationship. The dabbler often jumps from one thing to another, never fully committing to any one pursuit, and lacks the focus and consistency necessary for mastery.
Some key traits of the dabbler archetype include:
A lack of commitment:
Dabblers tend to lack the commitment, dedication and perseverance required to achieve mastery in any one area.
A tendency to start things but not finish them:
They may enthusiastically begin many projects, telling all their friends, but fail to see them through to completion and rationalise their reasons for not persisting.
Shallow involvement:
Dabblers tend to only scratch the surface of a skill or activity, never fully delving into the depth and complexity needed for mastery.
A lack of focus:
The dabbler may lack the discipline to maintain focus and prioritise their pursuits, frequently switching their attention to something shiny and new.
Fear of failure:
The dabbler may be afraid to fully commit fully to a pursuit or a relationship, as this may mean risking failure and the associated negative consequences.
Dabblers lose interest once the honeymoon period is over…
“The honeymoon is not actually over until we cease to stifle our sighs and begin to stifle our yawns.” - Helen Rowland, American journalist and humorist
More from George Leonard on the dabbler
Leonard suggests that although the dabbler may see themselves as an adventurer, or ‘a connoisseur of novelty’, they may actually be closer to what Carl Jung describes as the puer aeternus, the eternal child. Leonard also describes how the dabbler attitude may permeate through many areas of life, and discusses how in relationships or in work, the dabbler may pursue a string of relationships which are abandoned once the honeymoon period fades, or move from job to job once the initial high turns into the everyday slog.
The dabbler and our external ecosystem
The dabbler archetype is common in our modern world of distractions and easy entertainment, where we can easily become ‘amused to death’ borrowing from Neil Postman1. We all have a dabbler in us and exploring novelty, and trying out new things is often the first step to a lifelong interest and pursuit of mastery, but if the dabbler archetype dominates it can be a barrier to mastery.
We must remember, however, that we are human, we are ‘ordinary’, and sometimes our lives can be so busy and chaotic that it is hard to pursue one’s interests beyond a little dabbling here and there. We don’t need to define ourselves as a dabbler if it is all our current external setting allows for.
And perhaps society needs dabblers, the early adopters, the people attracted to trying things out, being the first to test their environment, pointing the rest of us in a direction we may not have conceived for ourselves.
My own internal dabbler
I don’t think it is Leonard’s intent to cast the dabbler in a bad light. I recognise the Dabbler in myself in some areas. I find that I have so many interests that I can’t possibly pursue mastery in them all, so I dabble here and there. I have quite a collection of musical instruments and with the guitar and piano I’m quite dedicated and disciplined, but with the drums, saxophone, cello, synths, and others I’ve been more of a dabbler - but dabbling has been fun. Fun is important.
I’ve also been a dabbler with other projects and business ideas, although not always. I currently feel like I will pursue this ‘Ordinary Mastery’ project with the commitment of the master, as I’ve done with some other projects, but will need to rein in the attraction of dabbling elsewhere.
From dabbler to master
Moving beyond the dabbler phase begins with an awareness of our inner dabbler and with committed effort and dedication to practice, one may move beyond the dabbler phase and develop the traits necessary for mastery.
In the context of Neil Postman's 1985 book "Amusing Ourselves to Death," the phrase refers to the idea that modern media and technology, particularly television (and nowadays the Internet), have turned our public discourse into a form of entertainment that prioritises emotional appeal over rational analysis. Postman argues that television's focus on image and spectacle has made it difficult for people to engage in thoughtful, critical discourse, and has contributed to a "dumbing down" of public discourse. He suggests that the entertainment value of television and other media has led to a situation where people are more interested in being entertained than informed, and that this has had negative consequences for our ability to think deeply and engage in meaningful communication.
If we think of ourselves as having a portfolio of interests then maybe 80-90% of them will be dabbles but that should only be 10-20% of our time spent.