Specialization

The word “SPECIALIZATION” has long been the key word in all activities. Few people dispute that the more we specialize in something, the better we get results. I’m not going to deny it. However, I see some value in looking at other areas of law and even other areas of knowledge than the one I specialize in. I really like the approach of investing professionals, because there the key concept is DIVERSIFICATION.

When I first heard about it, I was so close to the fact that specialization reigns supreme in everything, that I immediately asked why we should diversify something when we are to specialize. The goal of DIVERSIFICATION is different from the purpose of SPECIALIZATION, but companies specialize in something and at the same time diversify something. When I went to law school, my uncle explained to me that it was a bad idea, because a lawyer is a hard profession, because he has to know a little bit about everything, like an ACTOR.

I don’t know if my uncle was right then, and whether it still makes sense today. But I still remember conferences with old-school lawyers who really knew everything and really liked to know everything. They talked mainly about FACTS: cranes, types of concrete, types of jaundice, accounting and so on and so on.