Is it important to be well-rounded?

There seems to be a sentiment today, especially among obsessive parents, that their kids need to be really "well-rounded." Now, I think it's a great idea to expose young kids to as much as possible so they know what's out there and can then decide for themselves what they are interested in and begin to choose their own path.

But what about when we get older? Is it really necessary to be so worldly once we establish ourselves in a given field? It sounds fine and dandy, but let's be honest; Does anyone really care if their car mechanic knows a lick about world history? Or how about if their Doctor can discuss the arts? I personally could care less whether or not a professional athlete could name the capital of Finland, but yet we carry this assumption that everybody should be "all-knowing," and we make fun of them (behind their back of course) if they don't.

Now, I think that everyone should be well-rounded by a different defenition. It is each person's responsibility to be as well-versed in their field as they can possibly be. In the example of the fitness industry, this means to avoid becoming a "fad" guy/girl. Now, there are plenty of top professionals who are known for one thing; "The corrective guy", "The Kettlebell Guy", "The Speed Guy", etc. But talk to any of these people and they are incredibly knowledgeable about every aspect of fitness/health and human performance.

Try to open up a debate about the economy, however, and you'd be hardpressed to get an intelligent response that doesn't directly relate to their own situation as a fitness professional.

Is this such a bad thing?

I've reference a book, Outliers, a few times in this blog. Specifically, I was blown away by the 10,000 hour rule Gladwell talks about. In short, any extremely successful individual has accumulated at least 10,000 of quality practice in their given field to get to where they are.

Now, as I think back to my college experience and how "well-rounded" it was, I wonder if it really was worth it. How many hours did I spend in class, on homework, and studying for classes that served no purpose to get me where I want to be? These required gen-ed classes probably cost me hundreds of hours that I could have used to better prepare me to be a better fitness professional (would I have used them to do that? I don't know, but work with me here). The classes that I took that actually have helped me along my path, including graduate school, could easily have been done in about 3 years.

To be honest, I think the most well-rounded people are great for Trivia games, and carrying conversations with people they don't know, which can be valuable.

I guess I'd argue that it's more valuable to be extremely knowledgeable in a single field rather than fairly knowledgeable in every field.

Thoughts?

Jon