Corporate recruiters and human resources are often trained to be on the lookout for T-shaped employees. That’s an individual who specializes in a skill with expertise in a specific area.

But a T-shaped employee also has a breadth of basic skills and knowledge on a wide range of other things. Here’s an example of a T-shaped email marketer I wrote about for the Email on Acid blog. This individual would know a lot about different aspects of using email to reach customers and prospects. They’d also know some things about other marketing tactics and strategies.

The benefits of this kind of employee are pretty obvious, right?

• They know how things outside their specialty work, and as a result, they can see the bigger picture.
• They can step up and fill in outside their department when needed.
• They know enough about other areas of the business to collaborate and ask the right questions.
• They can also bring an outsider’s point of view to the table.
• They work well with others because they understand enough about other roles to show empathy.

Outside of the workplace, there are also huge benefits to living a “T-shaped life.”

We can spend our lives pursuing mastery of something. That’s important. Striving for excellence is a very worth endeavor. But if we focus too much on that one thing, we’re missing out on being a well-rounded human being.

Talk to any “creative person” you know and I bet you’ll find out that they have outside interests and hobbies that surprise you.

Miles Davis dabbled in painting (and so does George W. Bush). Clint Eastwood plays jazz piano. Emily Dickinson had a passion for baking. Silver screen actress Hedy Lamar was a tinkerer and inventor who paved the way for technology like WiFi and GPS.

Maybe it’s when we combine mastery and variety that we’re able to achieve our full potential.

Mastery makes us extremely useful and could lead to success. But a variety of life experiences, skills, and knowledge boost our creativity. They help us relate to others in our lives. Having lots of interests makes us more interesting. Eclectic taste allows us to enjoy more things than being a rigid “picky eater.”

A T-shaped life is a more abundant life. A T-shaped human is a happier human.

So get outside your comfort zone today. Push yourself to get a little bit better at that thing you do. Or… try something completely new.