Is it better to be a specialist or a generalist?

0:00[Music]

0:07everyone at Sam ovens

0:11and this is consulting TV and on this

0:14channel we discuss things to do with

0:17business and like psychology and

0:19philosophy so really the combination of

0:21the two and how that really is the

0:23answer to big success in

0:26entrepreneurship these days and today

0:28we're going to discuss a big topic which

0:31we've seen discussed all over the place

0:33like is it better to be a specialist or

0:36a generalist like some people think

0:39being a journalist is the one to do and

0:40some people think being a specialist is

0:42the one to do and today we're going to

0:43discuss it and give you the definitive

0:45answer so let's do it so one of the big

0:49marketing topics I've seen debated on

0:52forums and online and in pieces like Inc

0:56Forbes entrepreneur is is it better to

0:59be a specialist or a generalist I think

1:01I think it's swung people used to think

1:03you really needed to be a specialist in

1:05order to do something well and then for

1:07a while people thought you needed to be

1:08a generalist and that things were

1:10getting too broad and that specialists

1:12could only do one thing so what do you

1:15think what do you this in this current

1:17market in the year that we're in do you

1:19think it's better to be a specialist or

1:21a generalist it's a really interesting

1:24question because it implies there is a

1:28right answer and that it's not something

1:31else which isn't specialist or

1:32generalist and this is often how people

1:34get things wrong they're looking for

1:36that one thing that one answer that once

1:38they get it right everything will be

1:40fixed but it's not as black and white

1:43and as clear as that and you know one of

1:46the analogies I've always liked is the

1:48man who kept chasers to rabbits catches

1:50nuttin but I like to reword that and say

1:54man has to chase two rabbits to figure

1:57out which one he wants to catch and then

2:00he should just go for that one rabbit

2:01because you don't you like trying to if

2:04you if you think about this analogy the

2:05man who chases two rabbits catches none

2:07so therefore the man should chase one

2:09rabbit and catch that one but what if

2:11when he catches it he realizes he didn't

2:12want that rabbit and so that's the the

2:16problem with that thinking it's like

2:18people believe you have to be a

2:20specialist but they don't know what they

2:22need to be a specialist in until they've

2:24been a generalist and lots of things and

2:26figured out that one thing which they do

2:28want to specialize in and so I think

2:31Google Google is exceptionally

2:34intelligent with how they do their their

2:38hiring so Google has this term called

2:41t-shaped people and they like to hire

2:44people who have a broad knowledge and a

2:47lot of different things like biology and

2:49like chemistry and engineering and even

2:52philosophy like all of these different

2:54things they like people who are broadly

2:55knowledgeable but then really really

2:59exceptional at one thing in particular

3:02and I think that's that's really smart

3:06like that's how all people should aim to

3:08to live is to to be broad in a lot of

3:12things but be exceptional in one because

3:14if you're exceptional in one and you

3:16leave everything else out you're

3:17ignorant and there's a lot of times

3:20throughout the day that you have to just

3:22you know you have to do a little task in

3:24these other areas and you can't afford

3:26to have to always go and find someone

3:27who can do that always find someone who

3:29can do that and that's why there's also

3:31like the term like a full-stack

3:33developer or a 10x developer and they're

3:35ones that can move 10 times faster

3:37because when they have to touch another

3:39language or another interface they can

3:42handle it but they're exceptional at one

3:44language and that's really what I think

3:47everyone should aim to be in business is

3:49t-shaped so they should know about

3:51marketing finance accounting then they

3:54should also know a lot about life like

3:56they should know about economics they

3:57should know about law like a lot of

4:00people don't know much about the Lord

4:01like you need to know some basics about

4:03that so you don't have to go to a lawyer

4:04and get held up every time you should

4:06know a lot of things so you don't have

4:08to go and see one every time I've seen

4:10with accounting you know you shouldn't

4:11have to go and find someone with

4:13marketing you shouldn't have to go out

4:14and find people like you should be

4:16broadly knowledgeable in a lot of things

4:18but then exceptional in one so that

4:21you're you're seen as an expert in this

4:23one thing and you can crash everyone in

4:25this one thing but you can also hand a

4:27little handle a lot of these other tasks

4:29if they jump into your

4:31which they always do right so now

4:34transition until I into marketing

4:36especially if you're let's say you're a

4:38t-shaped marketer and you're offering

4:41digital marketing services for for a

4:43client at a consulting kind of structure

4:45what does that look like if you're a

4:47t-shaped marketer it's a good question I

4:51think there were a t-shaped marketer

4:53these days would be they would know how

4:56to copyright they would also know what

4:58makes up good imagery like you know they

5:02would know what sort of images work well

5:05that know how to write good copy they

5:07would know a bit about conversion rate

5:08optimisation they would also know a bit

5:10about statistics and conversion rates

5:12and then they would also know a little

5:15bit about like coding like they'd know

5:18how to install scripts and they would

5:20also know a little bit about math and a

5:22little bit about Excel and a little bit

5:24about a lot a whole bunch of different

5:26things even human psychology because you

5:28have to get into the mind of the market

5:30to figure out what it wants and so you

5:33have to really be good at all of these

5:34different things but then your one

5:36specialty might be Facebook Ads

5:38but you might have absolutely mastered

5:40Facebook Ads and be like the best person

5:42in the world at it but you're being good

5:45at Facebook Ads without knowing human

5:47psychology you're useless and being good

5:50at Facebook heads without knowing basic

5:51math without knowing without knowing

5:55copywriting like you know you you can

5:58only go so far and so that's what

6:00t-shaped would mean in in a for

6:03marketers these days yeah and now I

6:05absolutely agree so when people come

6:07into into contact with you the first

6:10time

6:10often what do you find is it more of a

6:12problem if they're too general or

6:14they're too specific and they've run

6:16themselves at the risk of exposing

6:19themselves if something the market

6:20changes and if they're looking to

6:23consult like what what is typical what

6:25is the problem people run into when it

6:27comes to being a generalist er being too

6:29specific is it one or the other I've

6:32seen both but if I had to guess I would

6:34say that the one that's most widespread

6:36right now is generalism so like the

6:40swings depending on the era but right

6:43now

6:44there's too many generalists but right

6:46now there's a lot of people who say I'm

6:47an internet marketer what on earth is

6:50that the engineer it's pretty big so is

6:52marketing I mean there could be a whole

6:53bunch of different stuff and you know

6:57people are also I see businesses post

6:59job ads and they're looking for a

7:00marketer like what is that

7:04you know it marketing has evolved so

7:05much that now it has like 10,000 strands

7:08but I think the people who I come across

7:12most often and who I observe are

7:15definitely generalists they've read a

7:17bit about copywriting they've read a bit

7:19about our sales they've they've might

7:22have read a sales book a copy book they

7:24might know a little bit about Facebook

7:26Ads they know a little bit about

7:27everything but they're not outstanding

7:30at one thing and that enables that that

7:34pretty much means that you're you're

7:37just a no one really like sure you're

7:39gin it's better than being no good at at

7:41things but it's it's still not enough

7:44and that's where I think Google nailed

7:46it with the t-shaped people because you

7:49know you it's the worst situation would

7:50be to know nothing about anything the

7:53next best situation would be to know

7:56something about one thing that's still

7:59not very good then you could know

8:01something about a lot of things still

8:03not really good you're still not having

8:04any breakthroughs but to know but then

8:07there's knowing a tremendous amount of

8:09one thing but nothing else you're still

8:11kind of paralyzed in that position right

8:13the way where it you really start to

8:15grow is when you know a lot well it's

8:18when you know like a lot about a lot of

8:21things but you're absolutely tremendous

8:23at one thing in particular and that's

8:26when you're dangerous like when you're

8:27when you can do that that's when you'll

8:29start to notice that you get like

8:31massive results for yourself for your

8:33clients for everyone yeah I think most

8:35people would agree with that but when

8:37people are getting started it's easy to

8:39catch shiny object syndrome and to chase

8:42after a bunch of different things how

8:44many rabbits so to speak has too many

8:46rabbits like it chasing after two

8:48rabbits and then finding which one you

8:49want that sounds like a great strategy

8:51but I feel like most people probably end

8:53up chasing after like 10

8:54it's at once yeah it's common well I

8:57think the most things that you can

8:58possibly pursue at one time and managed

9:02is three and I do recommend to only ever

9:05pursue one but when you're starting out

9:07in business you do have to do a little

9:09bit of you know you have to have a

9:10couple of things moving you can't just

9:12go all in on one thing so I always think

9:15three things so if you're starting out

9:17in business you should learn mindset

9:21like your psychology that is you can't

9:23skip that the you also have to learn

9:25sales because that's going to get you

9:27out and talking to people selling stuff

9:29and you also have to learn like

9:31marketing but those would be the first

9:33three things I'd pursue and I would

9:36chase those three rabbits until you know

9:38a lot about them and then I'd probably

9:40add in business strategy after that and

9:42I'd learn a bit about that and then I

9:45would go out and be kind of a generalist

9:47until I found that one thing which I was

9:49like this is it like you need to do a

9:52broad range of things until you find

9:54something that you have a conviction on

9:56it's like how a lot of hedge funds and

9:59traders do it they're reading news all

10:01the time like Warren Buffett reads the

10:04news every day he looks at all of these

10:06different companies to invest in but he

10:08might only pull the trigger on like one

10:10thing every like five months in his

10:12books like I've read sometimes he hasn't

10:14pulled the trigger on something in two

10:15years he's patient it's like playing a

10:18game of poker you don't want to go you

10:20don't want to bit on a hand just because

10:21you get it you know that when you

10:23keep getting down hands you look at them

10:25you're like this isn't very good but I'm

10:26getting it to you on a play you you

10:28don't play it you've just got to you've

10:30just got to fold it and then but when

10:32you find that one you have to go on you

10:34have to go all-in on it or you have to

10:36have enough conviction that you go in

10:38with with a heavy bit so I think

10:41entrepreneurs who are starting at the

10:44starting lines and they're looking

10:45forward trying to find the perfect thing

10:47they won't ever find it

10:48that's like waiting behind the poker

10:50table watching different hands get down

10:53and trying to wait till the right time

10:54to start playing it you can't find the

10:57right hand until you actually start

10:58playing and so you've got to get into

11:01the game and you've got to start doing

11:02things and just trust that you with time

11:06in with with

11:08variation of trying different things you

11:10will find that thing which you have

11:12conviction on and when you find it you

11:14you bit big and that's when you develop

11:18that t-shaped philosophy and t-shaped

11:21skillset so yes so once someone finds

11:25that and then really drills down on that

11:28one specific thing that they become a

11:29tea what's kind of their next move do

11:32they want to ideally get clients as they

11:35get more specific or do they need to

11:37wait until they become really really

11:39good at that before they should go out

11:41to the market and start looking for

11:42people to to do business with well I

11:45think they would already be doing

11:47business as a generalist like you don't

11:49just find your tea your tea shape when

11:54you get your client often you're getting

11:56clients and you're getting clients in

11:58different areas like I remember when I

11:59started my consulting business

12:01I had a rug shop I had a plumber I had I

12:06had a shop that sold like vacuum cleaner

12:10replaceable bags

12:11I had like a ton of different stuff

12:13added accounting firm a law firm a

12:15financial services firm like I was

12:17widespread and electricians like

12:21locksmiths all sorts of stuff and I that

12:24was me being a generalist and I learned

12:26a lot about a whole bunch of different

12:27things and at the same time I was

12:30educating myself and then I found that

12:33where I was most interested and where I

12:36was getting the best results was

12:37professional services so I liked working

12:40with people who were in like financial

12:43advisory or consulting or like wealth

12:47management or accounting law because

12:51they had a real specialty and quite

12:53often their specialty was derived from a

12:57problem in the market and I could really

12:59connect those two things with my with my

13:02understanding and help them get more of

13:04that and so when I started to notice

13:06that professional services inside my

13:09broad range of things was where I was

13:12interested and getting results I was

13:14like okay well why don't I just double

13:15down on that and so I do I double down

13:18on that and then I found that there was

13:19another there was more strands within

13:21professional services and inside that I

13:24found that there was you know

13:26accountants lawyers all these different

13:27things but then there were also these

13:29consultants who you know they'd pretty

13:32much started their business solely to

13:34solve one problem that they saw in a

13:36market with a service like one guy I had

13:39it was called effective governance and

13:44it was like he sauces his company

13:48sources like CEOs and board members for

13:51corporate companies and he used to work

13:53at a large firm he saw a massive need in

13:55the market for that so he left it and

13:57provides this and he's known as the

13:59go-to person for that and so it was very

14:01specific and so then I evolved more to

14:05just focus on people like that and I

14:08gave them the term consultants and then

14:11I got I stopped working with law firms

14:13and all these other people I just worked

14:14with them I got them more results and I

14:17really enjoyed that work more I started

14:20making more money and I also got known

14:23as the person to help those sorts of

14:25people and so that was how you know

14:27something that looked like this kind of

14:30evolved into more of a t-shape over time

14:33that makes sense and before you and you

14:37really can't skip down to that very last

14:39part it'd be like if you had started to

14:41try to you know teach consultants before

14:43you had ever done anything yourself it

14:45just wouldn't make any sense at all

14:47because you wouldn't have had that

14:48breadth of experience right so it's it's

14:50it's kind of a you can't find your tea

14:53until you are a generalize first right

14:55so that's why the question like should

14:58you be a generalist or should you be a

14:59specialist it's not as easy as answering

15:02that question as you should be both

15:03sometimes well you should be a

15:05generalist first it's like the man who

15:07chases two rabbits catches one so you

15:08should just chase one rabbit well you

15:10should you should kind of chase two

15:11rabbits until you figure out what one

15:13you want then go for that one and let go

15:14the other one it's like you know Michael

15:17Jordan chose his tee to be basketball

15:19right but like I'm sure he tried

15:23different things before he thought

15:24basketball is it he actually quit

15:26basketball went to baseball yeah and

15:28then he didn't do as well as there and

15:30there as he didn't basketball so he came

15:32back and it's

15:35you know it it is important to try

15:37different things to know what you really

15:39want and quite often I see people who

15:41make up their mind about what they're T

15:43shapers before they try a variation they

15:45end up leaving the thing which they got

15:47good at so I've seen a lot of my friends

15:51of my friends people who are in like my

15:52social group back in New Zealand I've

15:54seen a lot of them go out and become

15:56lawyers because they decided from a

15:59young age they wanted to be a lawyer and

16:00they went to law school they did all of

16:01that and then they became a lawyer and

16:03became t-shaped and law but then they

16:06didn't like it and they quit to go and

16:08do something else and after that

16:09invested a lot of years into that and

16:12that showed me that you know they

16:15probably chose their t-shape too early

16:17they probably should have been a bit

16:19more general and kept but tried a lot of

16:22different things until they really had

16:23conviction that law was that thing and

16:26so I had to start a few different

16:28businesses like I started a job board

16:31website I started a office lunch

16:33delivery business that taught me I never

16:35want to deal with food ever again and I

16:37also started a like a property

16:41inspection software app for property

16:43management companies and it taught me

16:45that you have to be interested in the

16:47niche that you're helping like I knew

16:49that I was solving a problem I liked

16:51building products but I wasn't really

16:54fascinated with the property management

16:56industry and so I got bored of it and

16:58then it really took me like three or

17:01four years to discover that the thing

17:03that I was truly passionate about was

17:05consulting and so I had to try that

17:09variation of things I had to I had to

17:11chase a few rabbits and to figure out

17:14the one I wanted and then go for that

17:16one and I think that's the best way to

17:19evolve for everyone is to to be

17:22comfortable being a generalist until you

17:24know what you want to be a specialist on

17:26and then go for it but I think a lot of

17:28its you know there's a lot of different

17:30sides to look at this thing because and

17:32not like there are people who have been

17:34generous for too long and still think

17:35they need to be generous for longer and

17:38I mean if you have been a generalist for

17:40longer than like a year or then you need

17:42to decide because that one thing which

17:45you start going t-shaped on it might you

17:48might start

17:48t-shaped on it and decide that you don't

17:50want it and then you'll figure out what

17:51you want to be t-shaped on it's like

17:54you've got a you know the vehicles got

17:56to be moving forward for like the

17:57steering system to work if you're dead

17:59still in use try and steer the car

18:01doesn't do anything you've got to be

18:03moving you often find that people not

18:07only do they decide to earlier too late

18:09do they decide for the wrong reasons

18:10like there's external influences

18:12involved in someone or someone just

18:14tells them there's a lot of money to be

18:17had in this and then they go for that

18:18and then they figure out that it's not

18:20what they want to do and now they're

18:23fully committed like maybe some of your

18:24lawyer friends and who are in

18:26traditional jobs and then from there

18:28they really have to reevaluate exactly

18:31what do I want to do do I even want to

18:32remain in this same kind of generalists

18:35you should not base your decisions on

18:36other people whose opinions ever and if

18:39there's a lot of money in something at

18:40the time when you decide to get good at

18:42it there's probably a high chance that

18:44by the time you get good at it there's

18:45not going to be any money in it anymore

18:47so quite often I've found that pursuing

18:50the things with it isn't any money by

18:52the time you get great at them you can

18:54actually find a lot of money in them

18:55because by the time someone by the time

18:58people know that something is a great

19:00opportunity and then you decide to

19:02develop yourself and pursue the skill

19:05set to be great and take advantage of

19:07this opportunity by the time you are

19:08great the opportunity is gone so it's

19:11like people are wait like in the

19:13financial markets people say when that's

19:16when the taxi driver is asking you about

19:18a stock you should sell it right by the

19:20time the information is disseminated

19:22down through society to people who don't

19:25know much about financial instruments

19:28you you probably don't want to be

19:30holding that stock because it's

19:32dispersed that far through society and

19:34by the time like your career advisor at

19:37school is telling you our careers good

19:39it's too late and so it's this is bit

19:42this is the problem with the the

19:45traditional education system and the

19:47schooling system and and just common

19:49advice because you know in order to take

19:51advantage of an opportunity you need to

19:53get skilled and skidding skilled takes

19:55time and then by that time the

19:58opportunity is gone and so it's

20:00fascinating for me to watch I could see

20:02this

20:02fold for a while but when I was at

20:05school everyone said you don't want to

20:07do trades my dad was a builder we still

20:09as a builder and my mum was like you

20:13don't want to be a builder like builders

20:14you want to you want to be you know work

20:16for a corporate you want to have a suit

20:18and stuff because you know building is

20:20like lower class and then even at school

20:23they said that they were like you know

20:25built building that's what like dumb

20:27people do you know it sounds stupid but

20:29that's what they say and so I observed

20:32everyone kind of turned their nose up to

20:34the trades like plumbing electrician

20:36building and start doing things like law

20:39medicine accounting and stuff like this

20:42and what's fascinating right now is that

20:44in the market place fresh out of college

20:46a lawyer earns more than a builder a

20:50lawyer earns less than a builder and a

20:52plumber makes more than a lawyer and so

20:55what's happened is because it was common

20:58sense to pursue being a lawyer or an

21:02accountant there are now too many

21:04lawyers and accountants and because

21:05everyone ignored being a plumber and an

21:09electrician now the world needs those

21:10and so it's quite funny to watch people

21:12that spend a hundred two hundred grand

21:15on their education and think they're

21:16very intelligent and think they're more

21:19sophisticated and more intelligent than

21:21builders the builders are kicking their

21:23ass right now and so it's quite funny to

21:25watch like I my dad said these like

21:28young builders making 120 grand a year

21:30and I still know our friends who work at

21:33top law firms and got first-class honors

21:35who make way less than that

21:37yeah and that says everything to me yeah

21:40it's funny people get so caught up and

21:43that's what that's generally what

21:44happens and maybe there's another shift

21:46right in another 20 years where people

21:48figure that out and then there's too

21:50many builders and then oh yeah well I'd

21:51say right now if you started to if you

21:53tried to really jump in on the building

21:55thing you'd only catch about a year of

21:57it before it the wave ins and so this is

22:00this is why you can't listen to other

22:03people's advice because most people just

22:06repeat what most other people say and by

22:10the time most people are aware of

22:11anything it's quite often too late right

22:15by the time any

22:16financial stock or instrument has made

22:19it to the news it's it's everyone's

22:22information you know you need to you

22:24need to be able to spot things earlier

22:27on or you need to be able to see things

22:28which people can't see but you need to

22:31see what something is going to become

22:33not what something is right now because

22:36if something is experiencing its peak

22:38then it's bound to very soon see its

22:43downfall but if something's experiencing

22:46its downfall its it's absolutely going

22:49to start coming up again it's just the

22:51way markets evolve ya know it's over the

22:55course of history time and time again

22:56things have just you know it's funny but

22:59people don't catch the patterns right

23:01people are people they don't make much

23:06of an effort to learn to learn a lot of

23:08things you know they can't see these

23:10things they they think what everyone is

23:12doing is what they should do and then

23:15they wonder why they're always getting

23:17things wrong yeah so it's far going back

23:25and wrapping this up as far as the

23:26generalist and specialist goes the

23:28answer is is truly it's much kind of a

23:30trick question it's one there is an

23:33answer but it's not it's not if

23:35someone's looking for a black and white

23:36answer they're not going to find one

23:38because it's more complicated than

23:40they're like life is right you can't say

23:42the secret to life is to be a builder

23:44because then it wouldn't be once

23:46everyone was you really need to try a

23:49variation of things like you shouldn't

23:52be worried about what your first

23:53business idea is because it probably

23:55won't work anyway and but by

23:58experiencing that business failure you

24:00will find what you need to do and I'm

24:03like I used to be horrified of failure

24:06and having a business idea that failed

24:07but now looking back I'm so thankful for

24:10every failure because it taught me the

24:12biggest lessons I've ever learned and

24:13like billionaires always say you learn

24:15nothing from your wins be learn

24:17everything from your losses and it's

24:19very true like I haven't learned a whole

24:21bunch from my wins but those early

24:23failures they they sit like the bedrock

24:26for all of my success moving forward

24:28because I learn

24:29and the big mistakes to never make again

24:31and so those are the ones I always know

24:34about and I'm wary of and so to answer

24:37the question like should you be a

24:38specialist or a generalist if you it

24:43really depends on what you are now if

24:44you're a specialist and you hate it then

24:47you should probably try becoming a bit

24:49more of a generalist for a little bit to

24:51spot a few there's something else which

24:52you want to be a generalist in if you're

24:54a generalist and you've been a

24:56journalist for a while you really need

24:57to pick something to be a specialist in

24:59and if you haven't done anything at all

25:00then you should become a generalist and

25:03a few things to figure out what that one

25:05thing is that you want to be a

25:06specialist in and just always think

25:09about it like the simplest way to put it

25:11is t-shaped you want to know you want to

25:14know a decent amount about a lot of

25:15things but be real intense and the best

25:19in the world at one thing

25:23[Music]