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Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

abhijitbhaduri.com

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Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#31

Post by kyrra »

bhattisatish wrote: post #4

I am not sure I buy the authors argument. I am not even sure if I am clear about how the author defines a generalist and specialist!! The way the world knowledge is evolving, there is a blurring of what we call specialist and generalist. For e.g. If you are a medical researcher, then knowledge of biology, biochemistry, software development (simulation anyone) and maths is required. Now is this specialisation or being…

If really recommend the book that the article is about. I'm a few chapters in (started it a few weeks) and it's a fun read so far with some interesting stories and data.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#32

Post by ozim »

Well T-shaped individuals have greatest chance of success.

What rubs me the wrong way is the false dichotomy like one can only be a specialist or a generalist. It is always presented as if for example chess players would not even know how to eat. There was a joke in the "Top Gear" about "Stig" racing driver that would fall to the ground if taken out of a car.

There is also much more to it because world is complex. For example I am software developer so for business people I am a specialist. But I am also a "full stack developer" where for my fellow developers I am a generalist. Then I mostly specialize in .NET and Angular.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#33

Post by eagsalazar2 »

I think this is like asking "which batter will do better, the one who swings low and inside or the one who swings high and outside?". Ok, I don't really follow baseball so maybe the metaphor is broken but my point is - it depends on what the situation requires and there is no way to predict that in advance. For any tendency or trait an individual demonstrates there will be times when that trait results in success or failure.

It is silly to generalize about which is "better" or more likely to succeed because an "ecosystem" will by design contain both so that as a whole the ecosystem is robust to a variety of unforeseen situations (or nothing happening).

In humans you have people who are specialists or generalists, bold or conservative, jay walkers or rule followers, finicky eaters or people who eat pizza that's been on the counter for a week, gamblers or savers, etc, etc. In every case there will be specific examples that make you think "damn I really wish I'd sunk my life savings into BTC 10 years ago!" but that doesn't make you "right" or "wrong" except in hindsight.

Humans (and other populations) should be judged on the spectrum of behaviors they exhibit and how that allows them to succeed in the specific distribution of challenges they face. Judging individuals seems pretty pointless, I guess, unless you are judging yourself and feeling unhappy with the specific tendencies genetics and your upbringing have dealt you. Anyway, just an interesting thing to consider.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#34

Post by irjustin »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #11
irjustin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a going theory on this - that it's a yoyo between generalization and specialization. A particular topic starts with generalists but as time progresses and stability (i.e. a path worth pursuing) becomes apparent, specialization is needed to eek out more performance gains. Then after a while, that particular area gets disrupted because there's a fundamental shift in landscape and the cycle repeats because the…

Pardon me for a bad (and generalist) habit. I’m not correcting your spelling for any reason other than to give you a free Scrabble tip: it’s eke. And yep, you’re spot on.

ah thanks! i'll keep my error for posterity

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#35

Post by faeyanpiraat »

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #33

I think this is like asking "which batter will do better, the one who swings low and inside or the one who swings high and outside?". Ok, I don't really follow baseball so maybe the metaphor is broken but my point is - it depends on what the situation requires and there is no way to predict that in advance. For any tendency or trait an individual demonstrates there will be times when that trait results in success or…

The point is that you can calculate odds of success.

Yes, you cannot predict the future precisely, but if you can estimate, that there is an X chance that in the future 70% specialists and 30% generalists are required, and the population will be 50/50 generalist/specialist, then you can make an informed decision which path should you choose if your goal is money/job security.

You may proven to be wrong, you may turn out not to be a good fit at all in your chosen role, but at least you took a calculated risk, instead of gambling.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#36

Post by systemvoltage »

Someone told me you gotta have a "T shaped" skillset. Well, how else could it be? I've never met any one who is just a straight line deep. Everyone is is an upside down triangle with multiple spikes at the bottom (their specializations) otherwise you couldn't have gained the specialized knowledge without learning the general stuff. But that's a stretch, let's not deduce someone's career into a couple of difference shapes. Careers are complex as they evolve sort of in a chaotic system of professional environments.

T-shaped is largely a made up concept without any real observations, and it sounds good initially but after contemplation it falls apart. One of those urban-legends that keeps circulating in big corps.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#38

Post by dehrmann »

planet-and-halo wrote: post #2

The best thing I ever read on this topic came from biology. In "The Diversity of Life," E.O. Wilson describes how specialist species thrive in stable environments. The stability allows them to evolve "deeply" into a niche and outcompete any species less specialized for that same niche. So if I'm really great at plucking fruit from tall trees, and you suck at it, I win. In unstable environments, however—say all of tho…

It's like training an ML model.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#39

Post by BrentOzar »

In an immature market, be a generalist. Be good at switching tools quickly because they'll come and go, and be good at the general problem-solving process because you'll face a lot of problems with new tools.

In a mature market, be a specialist. Be good at one very popular tool, and specifically solving one problem with it, and you'll find a ton of companies willing to pay you a lot in order to solve that one particular problem quickly.

Re: Generalists vs specialists – Who has a greater chance of success? (2019)

#40

Post by heisenbit »

planet-and-halo wrote: post #2

The best thing I ever read on this topic came from biology. In "The Diversity of Life," E.O. Wilson describes how specialist species thrive in stable environments. The stability allows them to evolve "deeply" into a niche and outcompete any species less specialized for that same niche. So if I'm really great at plucking fruit from tall trees, and you suck at it, I win. In unstable environments, however—say all of tho…

And our environment has been very stable for a long time. But the past mega trends are no more: Covid, global warming, end of boomer dominance, China dominating and collapse/stagnation of the asset bubble may change this for a while.

From a career perspective specialization pays better but in tech few specialities last a career. So also build skill sets and assets that can be leveraged into other tech or even non-tech domains.

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