Should You Be A Generalist or a Specialist?
Specialisation can be a fast track to success.
As a salesperson, you make contacts that make you irresistible to topline-seeking firms.
As a programmer, you acquire coding chops that make you irresistible to firms building in that stack.
As an HR professional, you become irresistible to companies desperate to retain talent.
And ‘irresistible’ typically leads to money, promotions, mobility. So you must specialise, right?
Not necessarily
What happens when the industry is shaken (or at least stirred)? Think travel, fossil fuels, telcos, banking…
Or when that coding language gives way to new ones or no-code?
Or when outsourcing/ AI chips away at core HR functions?
Then ‘irresistible’ quickly becomes untouchable.
In an uncertain world, generalists might have an edge
Generalists are lifelong learners.
They get to know and appreciate more things.
They learn to work well with diverse groups of people.
When things change, as they inevitably do, they adapt more easily than specialists.
They may not enjoy quick success. But they may feel more secure in their career.
All roads can lead to success. It’s really just your choice whether you take the highway or the scenic route.
