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

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

#51

Post by sokoloff »

systemvoltage wrote: post #36

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 sh…

How else could it be? It could be everyone was broad with little depth in a way that depth without some amount of breadth is harder to realize.

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

#52

Post by anarticle »

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- Robert Heinlein

Some things do come at the cost of others, but I think you'll be surprised how many proficiencies you can come up with in a life well lived.

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

#53

Post by _blu »

ozim wrote: post #32

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. Fo…

I specialize in .net too, but in a general way. i'm bad at everything. People who i work with who don't know anything about programming thinks i'm a specialist for some reason. luckily i'm the only programmer in my company. I feel like a fake, because I work for a really good company.

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

#54

Post by jbluepolarbear »

nxc18 wrote: post #48
jbluepolarbear wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it’s perspective, I’m a career long generalist and I feel confident that I can be put on any team and preform at or better than the average specialist in the same position. I’ve backed this up with every position I’ve had and have built a network of people that know and trust when I say I can do something. I think that’s more important than any specialist because if I don’t know an answer or how to solve some…

I tend to agree, and for strong performers/individuals (or just people who are willing to learn quickly/go outside of their comfort zone), it is often possible to become proficient at many ‘specialized’ roles. Especially with softer things, like moving between Java/C#/Kotlin/Swift, or Android/iOS development. There’s a lot involved in each ecosystem, but there’s also a lot of commonality. And, frankly, we shouldn’t p…

I started my career in digital media on interactive installations and I think that is the most influential position I’ve ever had. Every application was different and designed to the clients creative needs; wrote graphics engines, networking engines, transparent h264 format, hardware/software device integration, etc.
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