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What is a competent man?
A competent man (or woman) is a term used to describe a person with a wide range of knowledge.
Wikipedia defines the term as (emphasis mine):
The competent man or competent woman is a who can do anything perfectly, or at least exhibits a very wide range of abilities and knowledge, making him a form of polymath.
I do not claim to be able to do anything perfectly, but many around me have noted that I do exhibit a very wide range of abilities and knowledge.
Wikipedia provides a long lists of such fictional characters I admire, such as Sherlock Holmes, Yoko Tsuno, The Doctor, Paul Muad'Dib and I must admit that some of them inspired me to become the man I am today.
Wikipedia also warns that:
The competent man, more often than not, is written without explaining how he achieved his wide range of skills and abilities, especially as true expertise typically suggests practical experience instead of learning through books or formalized education alone.
In my case however, there are definite steps I took to be the person I am.
Great Quote
Here is a great quote from Robert Heinlein, with in bold, items I have done:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
All I have left to learn is how to pitch manure and die gallantly...
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How did I become a competent man ?
On my site, I try to talk about leadership and about post-conformism.
Leadership, in my opinion, is about leading the way. Setting your own objectives and moving forward, pushing the obstacles aside. It's about following the road you have taken until it's end, never losing track of your objectives.
Post-conformism is about ignoring the conventions and finding better solutions than society normally proposes. It's about exploring unpaved paths and questioning everything to make sure you are on the right road.
I also mention in my timeline that I have always lead a very active life, often having 2 full-time occupations at the same time, such as:
- Between 1995 and 1997, studying full time in college while working 8 hours per night in an alarm central
- Between 1999 and 2001, working full time in a telecommunication company and at the same time full time as an Internet consultant
Combining the three traits
What happens when you combine these 3 character traits?
You get someone who is willing to carve a new road, follow it to it's end and do so tirelessly with passion and courage.
When I was a tween, for example, most of my friends would wake up during their summer vacation around 10h30 in the morning. I was usually awake around 6h30 even then, giving me 4 hours of activity while my friends were still asleep.
Using those precious hours, I would usually read an unnatural number of books. I often mention that between the age of 9 and 2001, I would read over 150 books per year, based on an average of 3 books per week.
But the truth is that on a few very formative summers of my life, I would read 3 to 5 books per day in the morning while still having time to build wood cabins with my friends in the afternoon and play role playing games in the evening.
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But books aren't enough
To be a competent man, you need knowledge but also actual experience, so you can make mistakes and learn from them.
- In high school, I was a journalist for my school newspaper as well as editorialist and using investigative journalist techniques, uncovered a massive covered-up scandal which shook the school principal, the school board and almost cost me my education
- As a teenager, my father owned a sailboat and I often manned the mast, served a navigator or even conn the boat.
- When I was 16, I was an assistant electrician for a summer, gaining significant work experience to work with tools
- At the age of 17, In 1994, I founded Galicior, a live action medieval role-playing game (LARP). It's the sort of things you do while you're 17. In addition to gaining real world business experience, I helped build multiple structures including a 2.5 story high wooden mage tower with a secret basement, a massive elf fortress 10 feet in the air. To get the wood, I helped disassemble 3 old wooden shacks.
- While working at the sugar shack where Galicior was installed, I often helped as barman or assistant cook, gaining valuable life experience
- That is not counting the fact that with Galicior, I shook the way LARP were organized and from nothing, built a pool of over 90 loyal customers
- I was a member of the bureau national of the Parti Québecois just before founding Galicior to try and improve the education system and gained incredible knowledge on making contacts, speaking in front of an assembly, debating your points, etc...
- In 1996 and 1997, I was a DJ consultant and helped a bar survive several months after they had decided that bankruptcy was inevitable.
- In 2 weeks of 2003, with my wife and one of my friends we built our inground pool almost from scratch as well as our irrigation system, gaining unique knowledge on plumbing, electrical systems, cement laying and steel plate adjustments.
- In the winter of 2005, I helped build our basement, including laying the floating floor almost all by myself, and finishing many of the joints personally. I also built a wardrobe without any assistance, including installing the divisions, the door, the floor, the ceiling and finishing the joints.
I am not the only person with such a wide array of experience in addition to experience in the software development fields, but such a wide array of knowledge is rather rare.