not a specialist

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“Every man gets a narrower and narrower field of knowledge in which he must be an expert in order to compete with other people.

The specialist knows more and more about less and less and finally knows everything about nothing.”

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Konrad Lorenz

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Well. Someone asked me what I do.

I answered I am mostly a pain in the ass to current business consultants, leaders and people of my generation <50somethings who I believe, in general, have their proverbial heads up their asses>.  I write, and speak, about the changing face of the business landscape and what that means for businesses.

My view of things suggest consequences:

– Young people in business disengage from what could be learned

– Young people in business manage on instinct <disregarding what older generations have done> … which is fraught with peril

– Young people in business make unnecessary mistakes

– Young people in business are now tending to guide themselves into a generalist role/view of business rather than a specialist <and older people thrive on hiring specialists, but value ongoing performance based on generalist qualities>.

I am only going to speak to the last point today.

I cannot remember where, but I saw someone write about being a generalist. Okay, what they actually said was none of us should be just one “thing” and we all possess a variety of skills – including skills we aren’t using.

In addition … The Guardian published “Specialists or generalists: what do Employers Want.

This is one of my favorite topics to rant about. Being a specialist versus a generalist.

It drives me a little nuts that people naturally associate “being accomplished” with specialist.

It drives me a little nuts that people naturally associate “unfocused” with generalist.

Suffice it to say people’s perception when you suggest you are generalist is rarely <see: ‘never’> good. People seem to wonder if you just were not smart enough to specialize <which presumes ‘talented and skilled’> in something.

People seem to immediately assume you have some attention deficit disorder <why else could you not focus on one thing> or a general lack of ability to stay the course on one thing.

Maybe worst of all, people assume being a specialist means you do have a skill and being a generalist means you do not have a skill. That last thought is most bothersome because a good generalist actually offers the highest value skill – the ability to create structural value creation.

Regardless. I admit I have a love/hate relationship with specializing.

I love the fact someone can find something they are interested in, are good at and acquire a skill which permits them to offer a service which others can not.

I hate the fact someone can often blindly sacrifice learning and ‘enlightening the mind’ under the guise of this thing called specializing.

Far too often I find specialists have sacrificed so much outside of their specialty they know more about nothing <things outside their skill> than is actually good for them. While I admit I am biased I believe if you’re multi-skilled or curious over a variety of topics & skill development you tend to be more adaptable and more ‘evolving’ as a human being — and this person ultimately adds value anywhere and to anyone <ability to offer transactional value AND structural value creation>.

I believe I have stated this before.  The world actually needs a mix of generalists & specialists and that alone means maybe we should not only give generalists a break <for not being a specialist> and maybe we should be encouraging generalist attitudes & behavior.

Anyway.

Suffice it to say successful people do not always do one thing. As a corollary doing a variety of things is not an exclusive characteristic of unsuccessful people.

My personal belief is that a generalist is too good to specialize.

And I wish more people were generalists.

I believe everyone is capable of a variety of skills and I believe most people have skills they aren’t using.

Me?

I specialize in being a generalist. And my specialty in discussions with people is to ask “what else?”

Huh?

<1> What do you do?

<2> What else?

 Maybe that is my simplest thought with regard to specialists versus generalists, I just wish more people would pursue ‘what else’ in life.

Maybe view “what’s next” with curiosity and energy more often.

Maybe be a little more perpetually dissatisfied with what they know.

In the end. I imagine I don’t really dislike specialists or like generalists I simply abhor stagnancy and, in general, I view specialization as naturally arcing toward stagnancy and generalization arcs toward progress. That, in the end, is my best argument for generalization versus specialization.