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But T-Shaped people are specialists aren't they? That's the | part of the T. Specialists with enough curiosity and flexibility not to be afraid to go beyond the

But T-Shaped people are specialists aren't they? That's the | part of the T. Specialists with enough curiosity and flexibility not to be afraid to go beyond their expertise and get a surface understanding of many other things that might indirectly enrich their core competency. At least that's how I understand it. Unlike generalists, they have gone through the tough process of going very deep into something. They understand that there's a lot of detail under the surface of any domain and they know how to get there when needed, whereas a generalists would disregard or be ignorant of any complexity.

bakuninsbart 4y ago
I think T-shaped people are usually specialists-turned-generalists, for example good software developers who later on became managers. As a manager you have to be a generalist, and you usually have hundreds of small tasks, so no deep dive in one topic, but surface level in many. In my experience these people are definitely better managers (unless they suffer of old physics prof disease), but I don't see the large benefits for more specialised roles. The more I switch to being a generalist, the less I can actually deep-focus, and talking to friends and colleagues, it doesn't seem like I'm the only one. That said, interest and curiosity about other fields, especially the ones you actively work with or neighbour is probably always a great quality to have.
deleted 4y ago
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