In the 1800’s small travelling circuses without big headline acts or a menagerie of exotic animals were known as dog and pony shows. The very average acts on the programme were derided as ‘one trick ponies’.

When I was growing up conventional wisdom said that you must strive never to be a ‘one trick pony’. That person who had a single talent, one area of expertise, no other way to stand out.

And yet what was once seen as a disadvantage would today be seen as mastery. You can’t help noticing that the unconventional and unwise, who have just one way of standing out and succeeding, inevitably do.

Image by badjonni.