Being A Business Polymath

Specialization is one of the cornerstones of a productive capitalist market. Over the last two decades the level of specialization continues to increase at an insane level. No project is too small to be broken up, no field is too niche to have multiple specialties. Managers and HR professionals debate how much further this specialization can continue. Whenever we feel that we can’t possibly become more specialized, we find a new way to fragment a market or break apart a job description.

Not everything gets broken apart, and despite the never-ending supply of specialist there has always been a need for generalists in the workforce. But it’s always seemed to be one or the other, either you’re a generalist or you’re a specialist. Specialists are often so specialized they’re unable to see the big picture and how what they are doing fits into to overall company strategy. Generalists often provide high level vision and make sure everything accrues to the master plan but they’re often fuzzy on the details and how it will all work out. The problem I have with being a generalist or a specialist is that it limits your professional career options. And I think for a lot of us it’s not an accurate description of our capabilities.

Over the last few years there’s been discussions about a hybrid approach between the two. The most common phrase I’ve heard for this is a T-shaped employee. T-shaped employees have qualities of both the strategist and the specialist. They have enough breadth that they can look left to right and understand their position in the company and how their work fits into all of that, but they are also able to get deep in their field and provide that needed expertise.

If you find yourself in one of the two camps and want to broaden your opportunities, then it’s not difficult to become a T-shaped employee. Basically, your job is to continuously learn. You need to learn generally about your industry as well as develop one or more specialties. You need to develop deep knowledge and capabilities that set you apart in the market but you also need to be looking left and right to all the areas that impact your job. What areas in the company are you dependent on to do your job? Learn about those. You don’t need to be an expert but you want to start off with a general understanding.

Once you’ve moved from generalist or specialist, to T-shaped, the next trick is to evolve from being T-shaped to becoming a polymath. According to the Wikipedians:

A polymath (Greek: ”having learned much”) is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath (or polymathic person) may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable. Most ancient scientists were polymaths by today’s standards.

To me, a polymath, in a business setting, is someone who could fit into several T-shaped roles. They’ve developed multiple specialties and have an even broader range of general knowledge. The trick to this is using some basic core capability to branch out into other areas. Use one specialty to launch into the next one.

I don’t claim to be a polymath, but it’s an aspirational metaphor I use to keep learning and growing. I evolved my years of retail experience in college, into owning a skateboard shop. I then leveraged the experience of owning my own business and all the creative marketing I did, combined with my degree in communications, to transition into marketing. From there I was able to move into the emerging field of social media. After getting an MBA, and several years of business experience, I evolved beyond just being a social media tactician into being a business strategist, working with executives to reshape their whole business. From there I moved from external marketing consultant to internal product strategist. And I’m already looking for the next skill set to develop.

It’s not easy, but it’s ensured that I’ve always been able to work on things I enjoy and stay relevant in the marketplace.

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Originally published at tacanderson.com.