Specialists and Generalists
Which is more useful- Being a specialist or a generalist? Which is more satisfying personally ?
This question came up when a friend was pondering on what to focus on next in terms of career choices.
This issue often comes up for middle managers(generally highly paid) - who are suddenly faced with an interruption in assignments. Self doubt creeps in when they realize that they do not seem to have a personal area of expertise. That all they seem to do is prepare and review office documents - and spend time in meetings and conference calls.
They know that being a 'techie' does not pay , and yet meetings and documents do not seem to be particularly valuable contributions to the betterment of mankind. Better paid cog in the machine!
So in deciding what to do next - ie specialize or remain a generalist- and to derive more satisfaction from your work- you need to visualize your purpose and role in the network - to better understand your contributions.
First and foremost you have to realize this is knowledge work - so you had better make sure that you have a knowledge foundation that is valuable to the network you are in.
What is your knowledge being used for ? Decisions? Solving problems that impede progress? Marshaling /coordinating resources to move the ball forward ? which nodes in the network are you affecting?
A specialist understands a subset of the network . A generalist understands the whole network - the big picture! And that is why they pay them the big bucks !
And satisfaction comes from being aware of the contributions you make to the big picture
Actually a generalist - is the specialist - for the big picture! If you don't get the big picture - you really are just producing office documents and wasting time in meetings!
This issue often comes up for middle managers(generally highly paid) - who are suddenly faced with an interruption in assignments. Self doubt creeps in when they realize that they do not seem to have a personal area of expertise. That all they seem to do is prepare and review office documents - and spend time in meetings and conference calls.
They know that being a 'techie' does not pay , and yet meetings and documents do not seem to be particularly valuable contributions to the betterment of mankind. Better paid cog in the machine!
So in deciding what to do next - ie specialize or remain a generalist- and to derive more satisfaction from your work- you need to visualize your purpose and role in the network - to better understand your contributions.
First and foremost you have to realize this is knowledge work - so you had better make sure that you have a knowledge foundation that is valuable to the network you are in.
What is your knowledge being used for ? Decisions? Solving problems that impede progress? Marshaling /coordinating resources to move the ball forward ? which nodes in the network are you affecting?
A specialist understands a subset of the network . A generalist understands the whole network - the big picture! And that is why they pay them the big bucks !
And satisfaction comes from being aware of the contributions you make to the big picture
Actually a generalist - is the specialist - for the big picture! If you don't get the big picture - you really are just producing office documents and wasting time in meetings!
Comments