Why you should be T-shaped skilled?
We often hear about these common terms known as ‘generalist’ and ‘specialist’ when it comes to career development. It makes me feel that we need to decide whether our future paths should be a specialized or generalized route. Because of this, it could stifle our growth because we have a tendency to sit on the fence in order to delay on our choices in life.
Before expressing my opinion, I think I would extract the definition of what’s a specialist and what’s a generalist.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary’s simple definition of a generalist states a generalist is “a person who knows something about a lot of subjects”. A specialist is defined as “a person who has special knowledge and skill relating to a particular job, area of study”.
By the above definition, we could say that a generalist is a ‘Jack of all trades’ whereas a specialist is ‘Master of One’. Let’s use an example of a software engineer. Being a generalist, you have a wide knowledge of the different programming languages and you understand the purposes for each of them. However, you are not able to develop the project to its fullest potential because you only have intermediate level knowledge of each.
If you are a specialist, you will have the mastery of a programming language and you are able to utilize it to its fullest potential. You will be the main “go-to” person because you are able to debug all the issues and answer any queries with regards to the programming language. However, when a new technology stack emerged in the market, you may be more resistant to change. On top of that, you may have limited perspective on the business problem as you are only well-versed in your area of expertise.
T-shaped skilled
This is a very interesting phenomenon in which an employee possesses excellent knowledge of skills in specific areas and yet is good in working with others in a collaborative way. This term was first used in-house by McKinsey & Company and it was popularized by David Guest and IDEO CEO Tim Brown.
In this modern era, it seems that it is very essential that individuals are able to multi-task and accelerate project deliverables. We tend to wear multi-hats in the workplace. I feel that being T-shaped have far much more advantages as compared to being either a generalist or a specialist.
Benefits of being a T-shaped individual
- Better communication and collaborative skills — This is because you are able to understand and see from everybody’s perspective. You are able to view the project from a technical perspective and from a business point of view, thereby being able to provide a holistic solution to the business problems
- Lots of flexibility — If there is a day that you are made redundant for a particular skillset, you will have the other to fall back on. Technically, you are future-proofing yourself which allows you to be adaptable horizontally across the organisation.
- Best of both worlds — By possessing great skills and broad knowledge, you are setting yourself up for an accelerated career growth. You are able to lead and mentor juniors and you are able to bridge the knowledge gap with folks from other departments.
My personal route
Personally, I love to be a T-shaped individual. As my experience tells me, I realized the benefits of going deep into multiple subject areas and also keeping abreast of the essential knowledge for work. I feel that I was able to understand everybody’s point much easily and I am able to tackle the root of the problems much quicker.
As my former background was in the accounting, it did help in my journey in the area of tech and finance as I was able to grasp the domain knowledge much faster. This business acumen also help in other areas especially in terms of revenue and budget.
It is definitely not easy to reach to that level, but with a little of patience and grit, we are able to be that super valuable employee in every organization.
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Thanks for reading!
