Range: Intro - Chapter 3

Strategy vs Tactics

Hello readers!

I’m so excited to have started Range this week. It’s a book I’ve dipped my toes into a bunch of times for various reasons but never read straight through. This time around, I got hooked and have really enjoyed picking it up every morning.

Though it was published about six years ago, the ideas and insights feel fresher than ever and even seem like they’ll actually continue to get more poignant as time goes on.

I’d love to hear your initial thoughts, and

David Epstein

himself may even chime in here and there!

Let’s explore these opening chapters.

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Intro: Tiger vs. Roger

I loved the introductory comparison between Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. I’ve read books about both of those sports legends, so I was somewhat familiar with their stories, but not with this particular framing.

Epstein pointed out that the Tiger blueprint is actually way more rare and not as broadly applicable to other domains as plenty of folks would have you believe:

In reality, the Roger path to sports stardom is far more prevalent than the Tiger path, but those athletes’ stories are much more quietly told, if they are told at all.

What went unstated was that Tiger has had multiple personal problems come to light and generally doesn’t seem to be as happy or balanced as Roger Federer. Beyond the practicalities of their skills, there’s perhaps a psychological cost to the Tiger approach.

I then really appreciated that Epstein zoomed out of sports and into the real world:

“The push to focus early and narrowly extends well beyond sports. We are often taught that the more competitive and complicated the world gets, the more specialized we all must become (and the earlier we must start) to navigate.”

I can absolutely relate to this — even now, I’m often counseled to “niche down” when it comes to my Read More Books newsletter as well as my writing and coaching business, Casper Creative. (I don’t plan to, don’t worry.)

From my reading, while Range certainly falls into the “practical psychology” realm, it almost reads like a philosophical treatise too — a way to approach life as a whole. I’m keen on being someone “who start[s] broad and embrace[s] diverse experiences and perspectives while they progress.”