3 ms·

I think the best professionals I have worked with have been "wedge-shaped" people, not "T-shaped." People who are very familiar with their area, still intimate

I think the best professionals I have worked with have been "wedge-shaped" people, not "T-shaped." People who are very familiar with their area, still intimately familiar with surrounding concepts, less familiar with things around that, and so on. Interestingly, I think this kind of person often gets mistaken for being "I"- or "l"-shaped.

hef19898 4y ago
V shaped, or U shaped, people get mistaken for I shapes (man, how I love those management-sized oversimplified concepts, especially those putting people in boxes) when only one side of the U/V is used. Has all kinds of funny side effects, my personal favorite is when people realize, after having classified you as a I, that there is more to you. And then, using the biggest about faces possible, to recognize it, because of course once you are classified as something this cannot change.
- switchbak 4y ago
  I've got a background in Agile consulting (yeah, sorry), frontend work from way back in the day, and low-level systems and optimization work. None of this is factored into my current job, and I've lately been labeled the "database guy" ... when that's one of my newest and not particularly impressive competencies. I still have yet to find a way to manage external perception of my abilities to even a minimal degree. Very draining.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    In my current job, I just gave up on it. I am the "process guy", and lately, due to pressure from IT (of all people, since I am in Supply Chain Operations), the "ERP guy". The latter I did last 10 odd years ago, the former is a side effect of thinking about why things in my domain are the way they are, some lean training and, mainly, being good at operations. Operations being, I'd say, my true core competency from which everything else is fed. No chance to sell that where I am now... I'll see what I do about it come Jan. 100% agree on the draining part.

hef19898 4y ago

V shaped, or U shaped, people get mistaken for I shapes (man, how I love those management-sized oversimplified concepts, especially those putting people in boxes) when only one side of the U/V is used. Has all kinds of funny side effects, my personal favorite is when people realize, after having classified you as a I, that there is more to you. And then, using the biggest about faces possible, to recognize it, because of course once you are classified as something this cannot change.

switchbak 4y ago
I've got a background in Agile consulting (yeah, sorry), frontend work from way back in the day, and low-level systems and optimization work. None of this is factored into my current job, and I've lately been labeled the "database guy" ... when that's one of my newest and not particularly impressive competencies. I still have yet to find a way to manage external perception of my abilities to even a minimal degree. Very draining.
- hef19898 4y ago
  In my current job, I just gave up on it. I am the "process guy", and lately, due to pressure from IT (of all people, since I am in Supply Chain Operations), the "ERP guy". The latter I did last 10 odd years ago, the former is a side effect of thinking about why things in my domain are the way they are, some lean training and, mainly, being good at operations. Operations being, I'd say, my true core competency from which everything else is fed. No chance to sell that where I am now... I'll see what I do about it come Jan. 100% agree on the draining part.