Generalists

Often times, when there’s a discussion about generalists, the words “bridge” or “translator” will pop-up.

Many deciders, team leaders, or product managers will emphasize the importance of communication between teams, the great value of varied perspectives, and getting a mixed group of people around the table. They’ll praise team members for being the glue or the cement, the more fluid connectors between the “bricks” of specialists. But they usually lea... See more

On facilitation:

This bridging comes with broader interests and curiosity, but skills of facilitation seem like a great way to turn that up a few notches.'

He goes on to list 3 multipliers: I would encourage you to consider public speaking, writing, and negotiating to be three very easy add-ons or multipliers for whatever your core skill or skills might be. Those will give you an immediate competitive advantage.

Perhaps the effective generalist facilitates between disciplines? Perhaps the skills of facilitation are the fourth great multiplier?

Combine two skills that are valuable but even more rare and therefore more valuable together. Like a computer science degree and a law degree, or extreme knowledge of finance or mathematics plus public speaking. […] You’re not dabbling as a dilettante in a million things and never going a mile-deep, but you are spreading yourself across multiple sk... See more

Although generalist is the term I tend to settle on, there are a number of other adjacent ones in use. The first I heard was T-shaped people which, as imperfect as it is, I’ve been attached to and referring to time and again in various discussions. There’s also Key-shaped, Square-shaped, and The Neo-Generalist. It also ends up representing somethin... See more

So a lot of people—often working in certain specific areas like tech, some form of creative, or indie consultancy—see themselves as hybrids of multiple disciplines.