Generalist vs Specialist: Choosing Your Path
Evolutionary biologist, Robert Boyd has suggested that humans have adapted to become generalists, yet many students tend to pick 1 field in particular and stick to it till they’re older and full of regrets. It’s almost as if you’re denying yourself of being human because as a species, we can’t focus on one interest.
Just to clarify, this post isn’t going to solve the age-old debate of generalism vs specialism. Ideally, you should always go with what fits your values and philosophy. This post is only meant to help you when you’re at the point of choosing a career because I’ve learned a lot from my own experiences, and thoughts and sought-out guidance from professionals. But one thing I would like to highlight the importance of before we delve into anything: The purpose of making the choice is to achieve a higher level of satisfaction in the long run, both financially and leading a fulfilling life.
In this blog post, we will deep dive into generalism, specialism, the secret third option, and what path seems right for you. A specialist gets well versed in one narrow area of study to the point where they become an expert in that area - think Ali Abdaal with productivity or EA with shitty sports games. A generalist has a diverse range of interests spanning multiple fields of interest but without extensive expertise in any particular area.- a one-man band.
Now that we know what these 2 areas are, let's dive into what makes generalism and specialism so…special :D
A specialist is a virtuoso, who is more likely to get famous, as they have a linear progression - everyone loves a coming-of-age story; for instance, your niche YouTube celebrity no one’s heard of yet who grew to have a following of millions. However, these stories aren't made automatically because you opted for specialization. Josh Waitzkin observed that it takes thousands of hours to become an expert in a field and a thousand more to grow.
But how does one become a virtuoso? The usual path is through apprenticeships and career coaching which channels self-directed learning. But for those who’d rather use their time practically and productively, experience a phenomenon known as the Circle of Accelerated Returns, where practicing boosts your interest and your interest boosts your practice - and at the same time, you become twice as fast. And this cycle goes on.
One common problem that occurs when pursuing a specialization is that you can only focus on one career path. Yes, your position may come with different variants, but you are sticking to one industry at a time, leaving you with a massive career FOMO. The more you’re on the path, the harder it is to turn back or switch (but not impossible). This however doesn’t apply to students, as they haven’t even stepped into the path yet so it's easier for them to switch, because no one expects that much from you. However, take gradual steps because you don’t want to end up in the place you never intended to be. Think of it this way:
Your version of yourself (let's say who is 5 years younger than your current self) laid out a perfectly detailed plan for where he/she would like to be in the next five years. Now when you think of it like that, you don't care for the same things you cared for 5 years ago. So what’s the point of the plan? You're just predicting the quality of life for a person who doesn’t even exist. What if it's not the person you hoped for? Worst-case scenario, you’re stuck with a person with completely different ambitions and goals. A whole different personality. That’s why when you’re a student, pay close attention to how you plan. Will you have the same values as you do now? You can't predict that but you can make a rough estimate and make the plan accordingly. Contingency plans always provide comfort in scenarios like these.
I recently played Elden Ring (the game). In it, there is a special fight combo called the Waterfowl Dance. The Elden Ring community found a design philosophy around this fighting style which I find very beautiful: “Just as still waters turn fowl, stagnation leads to decay; thus warriors must remain ever-drifting” - In our instance, personality change is slow, but it does not stop at any age. Specialists thrive in a narrow environment i.e. field of study. So ask yourself: would you like to remain in a narrow stream or a meandering one?
(Also yes I made an Elden Ring reference in a blog post. SUE ME - don’t actually though)
A generalist has the trait of not being great at one thing, but being pretty good at many. When you’re a generalist, you have the problem-solving gene, because you are the only one who can bring in ideas from many different places. Not only that, adaptation of skill sets and ways of thinking to something new is very common. Generalists find it very difficult to become stagnant because you are flowing with inspiration.
Some days I’m a filmmaker, photographer, animator, and graphic designer. On other days I’m knee-deep in marketing and strategy, UI/UX development, and project management, To be very honest, I’m not the very best in any of these things, but the good part is that I don’t aim to be. What I can promise is that I can create purposeful results.
For me, it's exciting to explore new points of view rather than sticking to a set path and doing it repetitively.
I had a brief conversation about this very topic with Richard McClurg who is a Fractional CMO at McClurg Marketing. He introduced me to a completely new path called “Specialized Generalism" - where every generalist is a specialist at the same time. To understand this, there is a T-shaped model, in which the horizontal line portrays the area of knowledge/ skill and the verticle line shows the depth of knowledge/ skill:
If you have a very wide horizontal line, that means you're a generalist (a wide range of skills with surface-level knowledge)
If you have a short horizontal line, but a longer vertical line, that means you're going into specialism (a more focused list of skills with in-depth knowledge)
If you have a wide horizontal line and more than 1 vertical line which is equally wide (i.e. good all-rounder abilities, who have a particular strength in 2 areas), you are a specialized generalist.
Specialized Generalists are interested in several fields of knowledge that intersect with the focused strengths you have. Most CEOs are like this too! They are top 30% in most of the skills they learn, but their vast knowledge makes them the right candidate to run a worthwhile business.
So how do you choose your poison? There’s no one answer but if I tell you from experience, go with something that you find satisfying right now and which has the potential to yield a fruitful future (I usually ask myself: what is replayable?). The majority of colleges/ universities teach in the form of generalism so that you can choose your specialization. My advice would be to explore reality in the form of internships. You can't base your whole personality and career path around what you major in. See what people in the field you want to be in are like and see if that’s the day-to-day you want or if that's the success you want in the future. But don’t forget to monetize your growth. Once you get out there and learn this, you'll simultaneously start building a network, which will give you insights into what other fields are doing and then you can pick your path accordingly.
For the unsure and shy ones, I would advise Learning a skillset and displaying it publically is how one can force opportunities, if you don't want to do the conventional “pretending” in those networking events. Expose yourself to risk. Put yourself in situations where you will succeed or fail by your own decisions and actions and whether that success or failure will be highly visible
