Specialist vs Generalist?
If you're looking to maximize your career (income) as a developer it's often recommended to go deep and become a specialist. However, as an entrepreneur I feel like being a generalist is very beneficial especially early on (disagree in the comments if you feel different). If you could pick or were starting your career over what would you do?
I'm not looking for advice just curious what people here think. I'm closer to the generalist side of things, but I go back and forth if I'm happy about that decision.
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Hey @smithgeek - you might like www.generalist.world :)
Hi Brent,
If I could choose I'd stick to specialist, as I think it allows you reach a level of personal/profesional satisfaction with your knowledge that as a generalist is hard to get. But the problem is that it's a risky move (specially in software) if your area of expertise becomes obsolete during your lifetime.
On the other hand, becoming independent, trying to design, create & sell products/services, etc. forces you to learn new things regardless personal preference.
I think there is a third options that has the best of both worlds, known as a: t-shaped person/engineer/other, specialized-generalist (among other terms).
The idea behind this concept: have deep knowledge (although not as deep as a specialist), in a few related areas (not as many as the generalist) that you can combine in novel ways.
An example could be: someone specialized in blockchain that combines that with knowledge in computer vision, product design and marketing.
I think it isn't a specialist or a generalist, but a spectrum like everything else in life. I don't know how many are real specialists or real generalists. Where you are on the spectrum depends on your personality.
I'm a generalist but I am working on get more specialized in some areas. It's a hard work because everything is exciting and useful. I can't imagine myself as a true specialist. I'm glad I can combine different areas in my work.
I agree with you that if you have deep knowledge in different areas you can combine them in novel ways. Also, I have realized that sometimes two seemingly different areas are more similar than you might think at first. I find it useful to think about how things are related, how they are similar or different.
That's true, as is usually the case, reality is more about shades of gray rather than whites or blacks. So it makes sense to think about people been somewhere between the two, rather than one or the other.
I know this is a very common recommendation but I'm a generalist and as far as I can tell I'm paid on par with my peers who are specialists.
Sure some doors are close to me because of potential lack of experience in a certain fields but I have also a lot more freedom and choices for projects. At this point, it's difficult for me to not have some experience in the field of teams I approach when looking for a new project to work on.
Inspiration for this post came from watching this Adam Savage video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlBnrx5Z3Ww