The Special Generalist
Why your team needs range
“Jack of all trades, master of none…”
Hearing this phrase today we think of someone who has dabbled in many things but hasn’t chosen to commit to any one thing more deeply. No one wants to be seen as a dabbler. Dabblers are lazy.
Or are they?
My aim with this post is to make a case for the pursuit of functional knowledge across a wide variety of fields vs. going deep in only a few. In other words, why it's valuable to be a generalist. But before we begin, let’s finish the phrase above:
“Jack of all trades, master of none but oftentimes better than master of one.”
First - some definitions:
Specialist
a person who concentrates primarily on a particular subject or activity; a person highly skilled in a specific and restricted field.
Generalist
a person competent in several different fields or activities.
Let’s conjure up a quick analogy for this topic.
Picture an ocean with two people floating at the surface. One is equipped with SCUBA diving gear that allows them to dive deep and stay down long enough to get acquainted with the sea-life below. This is our specialist. In the ocean they are intentional about their movements and can see things up close and in detail.
The other is snorkeling with minimal equipment to weigh them down but is only capable of going as deep as a single breath will allow. This is our generalist. In the ocean they are agile and can see things better at a distance.
The Right Tools for the Right Job
Our experience, skills, and knowledge are the tools we bring to any challenge. When that challenge requires depth and expertise, we call on a specialist to help. But what happens when the challenge isn’t clearly defined, the rules are nebulous or non-existent, or the challenge itself shifts to something different without notice?
To avoid getting trapped by the Law of the Instrument cognitive bias, we need to mix in a broader range of experience because, as Abraham Maslow observed:
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
The Case for Range
Generalists are masters of integration. They see challenges as an opportunity to tap their range of experience and find possible solutions outside of the domain our specialists have deep expertise in. That variety of experience helps them to see connections between two or more disciplines and when paired with the right mix of specialist depth, they are solution-finding machines.
Depth on a team alone is certainly workable but your outcomes are likely to be incremental and your risk of siloed work is higher. Depth AND range combined gives your team a better chance at breaking through tough problems and finding exponential growth.
But if this combo is ideal, then why don’t we see this play out more often in a work setting?
Fighting Against the Tide
In my experience working in teams, there is a natural draw towards specialization. Intrinsically, specializing gives us a concrete sense of self-identity and purpose. Extrinsically, we reward those who spend more time in a narrow field with higher pay and recognition.
These drivers, coupled with strong psychological motivators, encourage folks to become experts in a single domain vs. seeing the benefits of extending their knowledge across many. Without any counterbalancing measures in place, a team will self-specialize and branch off into smaller groups.
To ensure that your team has the right mix of depth and range, you need to invest in the development of your generalists. This means active communication with your team about the value of both depth and range when solving problems, a performance management system that rewards integration of ideas as much as it does specialization, and a means to identify and engage with your budding generalists.
That person who contributes to many different projects but doesn’t seem to stick to one for very long - that’s your generalist. That person who tends to ask more questions than others and come out of left field with a crazy idea to solve a challenge - that’s your generalist. If you don’t identify and engage them quickly, they will feel one-step behind their peers or worse, they will pretend to be a specialist and burn out from feeling stifled and bored.
Find Your Balance
There isn’t a golden ratio to adhere to when combining depth and range. Let your team goals, priorities, and challenges guide you. As you build out your org charts and focus on matching skills and experience to team and company needs, save a space for those who don’t quite fit in any one place. Then set up a rotation through different groups in a way that encourages collaboration without distraction.
Your generalists could be the difference between slogging through a tricky problem or breaking through with an unexpected solution.
Additional Reading & Resources
Generalise, don't specialise: why focusing too narrowly is bad for us