When Generalists Are Better Than Specialists, and Vice Versa

Another view is that there are costs to generalizing and that you’re better off hiring specialists — employees who have very deep expertise in an important area — or encouraging your employees to become specialists in whatever they do.

There is no one-size-fit-all strategy to promote creativity. But our study suggests that leaders should assess how many specialists and generalists they have on their teams. If the pace of change is slow, teams will likely benefit from employing generalists, who can challenge the industry’s taken-for-granted assumptions and bring in new ideas. If t... See more

What’s the best way to boost creativity on your team? One view is that the key to creative breakthroughs is being able to combine or leverage different areas of expertise. This suggests you should encourage employees to explore new fields or hire more generalists — they can connect dots where others don’t see a link.

There’s considerable evidence supporting both sides, so researchers set out to study whether generalists and specialists shine in different circumstances

We theorized that the benefits of being a generalist are strongest in fields with a slower pace of change. In these fields (think oil and gas, mining), it might be harder for specialists to come up with new ideas and identify new opportunities, while generalists may be able to find inspiration from other areas. We also theorized that the situation ... See more