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A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop (those talents) into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish goals.

Nothing substitutes depth of analysis and there's proven value in the methodical and incremental process of specialization - it's what education, career paths, scientific research, and technological innovation are built on - but generalism is the hidden talent, the missing link. With so much complex information, that is fragmented in so many ways and developing faster and faster, it is increasingly important to have generalists around to make sense of it all. People who appreciate diversity, who are in the know about the wider world, and who understand how things interact are invaluable observers, matchmakers, and pioneers of the intersectional ideas that are vital to success in today's global society and knowledge economy.

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.

Once someone is good at something, they tend to spend all their time doing that. This kind of focus is very valuable, actually. Much of the skill of experts is the ability to ignore false trails. But focus has drawbacks: you don't learn from other fields, and when a new approach arrives, you may be the last to notice.

For executives trying to make sense of a rapidly changing business environment, superiority in pattern recognition is perhaps the greatest competitive advantage that can be developed.

When I do talk with students, my goal is to help them develop what I consider to be two of the most important forms of intelligence: the ability to read other people, and the ability to understand oneself. Those are the two kinds of intelligence that you need to succeed at chess -- and in life.