Does the future belong to generalists?

When I heard the word ‘generalist’ for the first time, it was like 1000 lightbulbs went off in my mind. All the pieces of my unconventional career clicked. Maybe you’ve also had the same experience.

If you're a generalist, the road to get to where you are has likely been long and pretty lonely. Probably with a lot of doubts. Maybe with lots of pressure to specialize. And a whole lot of feeling…. different.

There’s been no language, no validation, no role models, and no research into what makes each of us say: “that is me, I am a generalist!!”.
….. Until now.

For the past few months, a few very special generalists have been collaborating to change this.

They were tired of the status quo belief that a generalist is just a jack of all trades. They challenged the narrative that a generalist is just someone with a windy career path. They teamed up to conduct new research into what it really means to be a generalist.

In this pilot study, Erica Warp (neuroscientist), Stephanie Hammer (communication skills trainer) and Lucy Nersesian (design ops leader) surveyed 100+ self-identified generalists from the Generalist World community to better understand their careers, education, strengths and personality traits.

Today, I'm SO delighted to share our findings. But before we dive into the spicy results 🌶, here's how you can help:

1. Share. The conversation around generalists is still in its infancy, and you can help change this. We want to reach as many generalists, companies, universities, journalists, academics and sponsors as we can so we can continue this super-important research. Every single share helps us do just that.

2. Know someone who would be a great person for us to speak with? Awesome!! Connections & intros are very appreciated, just email hello@generalist.world

Check out the whitepaper here: https://generalist-world.beehiiv.com/p/generalist-research-0d3d

Excited to hear your Qs, thoughts, comments or insights!