In Defense of Generalists

To succeed in today's world, we must find our niche. Or so we are told.

We live in a world where it pays to specialize, to be a so-called content "expert."

Harvard Business Review first wrote about hyperspecialization back in 2011, and five years later, Forbes noted, "When you specialize, you’re able to provide your target market with a superior value proposition over companies that generalize in a related field. You essentially become a bigger fish in a smaller pond, as opposed to the other way around."

Honing in on a singular topic of expertise sounds like a no brainer, doesn't it?

I'm not so sure.

In Isaiah Berlin's framework, individuals can either be foxes, who know a little about a lot of things, or hedgehogs, who know a lot about one thing.

I don't believe that knowledge or people can be so easily dichotomized.

Still, assuming this division exists, I would be wary in dismissing the value of generalization and abandoning a course in the liberal arts in favor of a specialized course of study that parallels one of a vocational school.

Here are some of my reasons:

We don't know what we don't know.

When we have our blinders on in the pursuit of knowledge we are - quite literally - blinding ourselves to a world of other ideas and concepts. We may have no idea of the ideas and innovations we are missing out on simply because we have intentionally chosen blindness to the possibilities and options.

We limit our curiosity.

Deciding to only think about and focus on one thing can make us closed-minded to and even intolerant of ideas, people, and places that challenge it. It can also make us arrogant and believing that ours is the best or only way.

We restrict our identity.

How do we respond when someone challenges our specialization? Do we feel personally attacked? What happens if our specialization is no longer relevant or is otherwise compromised, outsourced, or replaced? Do we lose our financial - as well as emotional - health?

We compromise our ability to think creatively and across dimensions.

Thinking across disciplinary boundaries is what has allowed for some of the most unique, transformative, and revolutionary innovations and developments in the world. To use a topical example, last year The Lancet reported, "[A] shortage of personal protective equipment prompted tailors and textile workers to come up with new ways of producing gowns and face masks. Such collaborations depend on effective communication between clinicians, scientists, engineers, and those from the creative and craft industries... The novelty and challenge of such collaborations highlight the pigeon-holed nature of much medical education."

Take pride in having achieved mastery over specific tasks or concepts, if you'd like.

But be wary of believing you have fully mastered a certain domain.

After all, the full phrase is “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”