Adam Smith opened his seminal tome on capitalistic economics with a discussion of perhaps the most important of its precepts–the division of labor. Made famous by “The Wealth of Nations“, the idea that specialization and co-operation could lead to higher-volume, cheaper, and better-quality production was fairly common–and controversial–in the 18th Century.
Some 60 odd years earlier Dutch philosopher and economist Bernard Mandeville had written:
“No number of Men, when once they enjoy Quiet, and no Man needs to fear his Neighbour, will be long without learning to divide and subdivide their Labour…Man, as I have hinted before, naturally loves to imitate what he sees others do, which is the reason that savage People all do the same thing: This hinders them from meliorating their Condition, though they are always wishing for it: But if one will wholly apply himself to the making of Bows and Arrows, whilst another provides Food, a third builds Huts, a fourth makes Garments, and a fifth Utensils, they not only become useful to one another, but the Callings and Employments themselves will in the same Number of Years receive much greater improvements, than if all had been promiscuously follow’d by every one of the Five…”
Three centuries later, at the tail end of the Industrial Revolution, mankind is more or less the same breed of animal; we still love to imitate what we see others doing (just think about Twerking) but at the same time have learned to divide our labor into increasingly slender categories.
College students can now major in such specializations as Law Enforcement Record Keeping and Evidence Management (a two-year degree offered by Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas), pastry shops which make nothing other than cupcakes are popping up across the country, and many domestic cleaning services don’t do windows.
It’s profitable to be a specialist precisely for the reasons elucidated by Smith. First, he says, specialization leads to increased “dexterity”–that is, a worker who dedicates himself exclusively to a single occupation becomes more adept at carrying it out. This is why football teams employ placekickers, punters, and–sometimes–kickoff specialists.
Secondly, according to Smith, there is much time wasted in transitioning from one task to another. “A man commonly saunters a little in turning his hand from one sort of employment to another. When he first begins the new work he is seldom very keen and hearty; his mind, as they say, does not go to it, and for some time he rather trifles than applies to good purpose.”
Thirdly, Smith finds that time-saving and performance-enhancing innovations–in particular of the technological variety–are often the fruit of workers who “are much more likely to discover easier and readier methods of attaining any object, when the whole attention of their minds is directed towards that single object, than when it is dissipated among a great variety of things.”
The rather straightforward principle of division of labor–which really is nothing more than a natural evolution of the practice of bartering and exchange–is absolutely crucial for maintaining a competitive advantage. While knowing how to do everything is certainly an admirable quality, knowing how to choose what to do is even better.
If you’re running your social media on your own, you’re missing out on the advantage that a specialist can bring you, but more importantly you’re wasting precious time–including those “sauntering” transitioning moments–which you could be dedicating to your core business.
Let us help you direct the whole attention of your minds toward a single object while we do what we’re specialized in–managing social media. Who knows what innovations dividing your labor will lead you to next!
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via:http://www.salesblend.com/2014/specialization-to-stay-competitive-specialize/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+salesblend%2FlJiY+%28SalesBlend+Blog+Feed%29
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