So over the last year or so we have started to resist this industry-wide push for narrow skills, by calling out this quality, which we call an Expert Generalist. Why did we use the word “expert”? There are two sides to real expertise. The first is the familiar depth: a detailed command of one domain’s inner workings. The second, crucial in our fast-moving field is the ability to learn quickly, spot the fundamentals that run beneath shifting tools and trends, and apply them wherever we land. As an example from software teams, developers who roam across languages, architectures, and problem spaces may seem like “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none,” yet repeated dives below surface differences help them develop durable, principle-level mastery. Over time these generalists can dissect unfamiliar challenges, spot first-principles patterns, and make confident design decisions with the assurance of a specialist – and faster. Being such a generalist is itself a sophisticated expertise.
Tag: jobs
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Praise for the expert generalist
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jobs are creative acts
Ben Pieratt writes that jobs are creative acts
As a creative person, you’ve been given the ability to build things from nothing by way of hard work over long periods of time. Creation is a deeply personal and rewarding activity, which means that your Work should also be deeply personal and rewarding. If it’s not, then something is amiss.
Creation is entirely dependent on ownership.
I’ve always felt that the act of creation is a powerful one, unrecognized or under appreciated. In certain environments people who accomplish great things have very little ownership of the end result, but they can own the means and abilities to reach that accomplishment. When others step in to own part of the process… it’s theft.