"Mastery" is like a buzz-word, but it's had its power in our culture for a long time. Buzz-words are useless unless a meaning is assigned to them.
To me, mastery means mastery of the basics.
A master chef is a master at slicing, chopping, mixing ingredients correctly, and applying heat to food in a variety of ways (frying, baking, grilling, etc). A master carpenter is a master of measuring, sawing, hammering, and fastening wood together.
My professor for introductory accounting tells his classes that advanced accounting textbooks have the same chapters as the beginning books, just with more advanced subject matter. Mastery of accounting would then be just mastering those basics.
I disagree completely. Mastery necessarily implies a mastery of the basics, but it is so much more.
A master chef knows how flavors, textures, and colors interact to build a food experience much greater than the sum of its parts.
A master carpenter knows how the wood she is working with will behave as it is worked with and finished, so the joints and reinforcements are completely hidden within the aesthetics of the piece itself.
(I can't speak to accounting, but I would imagine there is a similar difference.)
The point being that, once the basics are mastered, there is a completely new level of complexity (and therefore creativity) that can be managed. The true masters are the ones who are one level above everybody else who is "merely" great.
On the contrary, mastery is not a buzz-word. The trades have fairly strict guidelines on who can be considered a master.
Mastering the basics is what an apprenticeship is about.
To me, mastery means mastery of the basics.
A master chef is a master at slicing, chopping, mixing ingredients correctly, and applying heat to food in a variety of ways (frying, baking, grilling, etc). A master carpenter is a master of measuring, sawing, hammering, and fastening wood together.
My professor for introductory accounting tells his classes that advanced accounting textbooks have the same chapters as the beginning books, just with more advanced subject matter. Mastery of accounting would then be just mastering those basics.