Everyone should aim to be T-shaped. The problem with 'tall skinny' engineers is that they can be extremely dangerous because: - Their deep domain knowledge mak

Everyone should aim to be T-shaped. The problem with 'tall skinny' engineers is that they can be extremely dangerous because: - Their deep domain knowledge makes them sound a lot smarter than they are... Especially to non tech-savvy managers who don't know better. So they can be extremely persuasive in arguments. They only participate in arguments that they can win but their ability to constantly win those niche arguments gives them extra general credibility which is not deserved. - They are excellent at implementing solutions within their narrow area of expertise but they tend to miss a lot of alternative solutions which may have been better. They could spend years working on a solution whose problem could have been solved much faster and more elegantly via a different solution which happens to lie outside of that individual's immediate domain of expertise. People who wield absolute top-of-the-range, world-class hammers but have no other tool in their toolbox have a very strong incentive to see and portray every problem as a nail.