🌀The Generalist Value Pyramid

Hi folks! Today’s deep dive will help you think & speak about your generalist value with clarity and confidence. I welcome you to screenshot your fave bits & share them on LinkedIn (tag @generalistworld so I can say hi!) If you like, you can read / share the online version ❤️ 

🌀 “What is a generalist?”

I’ve been asked this question hundreds, maybe thousands of times, since starting Generalist World in May 2022 (from my kitchen on a little, rural, Scottish island).

You’ve heard the usual musings…

• a jack of all trades

• someone with a broad skillset

• someone with a meandering path

In honesty, they never sat well with me. They didn’t encapsulate the height of the talent that I was bearing witness to in the GW Community.

Welcoming 600+ generalists into our community has given me more golden insights than I could shake a stick at. In this essay, I’ll try to summarise what I’ve learned.

⚡️ PS: at the end of this email, I’ll let you know about a new way to get hired. No CV’s. No job description. Totally anonymously (aka: no bias). Pretty exciting, hey?

🌀 Let’s begin with: can a generalist have a speciality?

It sounds like an oxymoron — defining a singular label for a generalist with diverse knowledge, expertise, and lived experiences. So, let’s start with a question:

Can a generalist have a speciality?

In my opinion, and with a resounding agreeance from the community Yes. Absolutely, generalists can have specialities. Robert said it best: “with time, you can definitely build mastery in specialized areas”.

So, if being a generalist simply isn’t not being a specialist, then… what makes someone a generalist?

My best explanation to date is what I’m calling: the Generalist Value Pyramid.

There are three essential parts of the generalist DNA. To be clear, in this context, I’m speaking about the kind of generalists I work closely with. Very high-calibre. High-performing. Producing high-value work.

I am not speaking about someone who knows a little about a lot. This is the biggest reframe I think we, as a society, need to get clear on.

Generalists are not mediocre. They are not unfocused. I know this because I’ve lost count of the number of folks in our community with PhDs, or who run multi-million dollar companies, or who drive meaningful innovation and positive change in our world.

🌀 The Generalist Value Pyramid

I believe there are 3 key features of high-calibre generalists, and they intersect and complement each other. Let’s dig into each: