added by Supritha S · updated 2y ago
All Hail the Generalist
- For various reasons, though, the specialist era is waning. The future may belong to the generalist. Why’s that? To begin, our highly interconnected and global economy means that seemingly unrelated developments can affect each other.
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Finally, there appears to be reasonable and robust data suggesting that generalists are better at navigating uncertainty.
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago
- The time has come to acknowledge expertise as overvalued. There is no question that expertise and hedgehog logic are appropriate in certain domains (i.e. hard sciences), but they certainly appear less fitting for domains plagued with uncertainty, ambiguity, and poorly-defined dynamics (i.e. social sciences, business, etc.). The time has come for le... See more
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Approximately 2,700 years ago, the Greek poet Archilochus wrote that “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Isaiah Berlin’s 1953 essay “The Fox and the Hedgehog” contrasts hedgehogs that “relate everything to a single, central vision” with foxes who “pursue many ends connected…if at all, only in some de facto way.” It’s ... See more
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Secondly, specialists toil within a singular tradition and apply formulaic solutions to situations that are rarely well-defined. This often results in intellectual acrobatics to justify one’s perspective in the face of conflicting data.
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago
- In today’s uncertain environment, breadth of perspective trumps depth of knowledge.
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago
- The declining returns to expertise have implications at the national, company, and even individual level. A collection of specialists creates a less flexible labor force, one that requires “retraining” with technological developments creating constantly shifting human resource needs.
from All Hail the Generalist by Vikram Mansharamani
Supritha S added 2y ago