Richard Martin

Kenneth Mikkelsen

We live in a world of hyper specialism, losing context and our connection to the surrounding region breaks down. The expertise we valued so highly has served to narrow and shorten our vision. It has blinded us to potential and opportunity.

This book argues that there is the need and place for both specialist and the generalist. Currently, it feels the balance is tipped too far towards specialism, which results in too much blinkered decision-making. The authors call for people to develop into generalists. These are people who possess both a breadth and depth of skills, knowledge and experience. These are most definitely not ‘jack of all trades, masters of none’. Rather, they are people who have the potential, the attitude and the aptitude to specialise in more than one discipline, and are adept at navigating the digital, networked world we inhabit today.

Where You Go Is Who You Are

The Neo-Generalist

Fabian Beiner

The neo-generalist is both specialist and generalist, often able to master multiple disciplines. We all carry within us the potential to specialise and generalise. Many of us are unwittingly eclectic, innately curious. There is a continuum between the extremes of specialism and generalism, a spectrum of possibilities. Where we stand on that continuum at a given point in time is governed by context.

The neo-generalist, then, is both a generalist and a specialist, switching between the two as required. They are able to corral their generalist tendencies in service of deep specialisms. They generalise in order to specialise. Neo-generalists bring unique perspectives, blended knowledge and experience from diverse disciplines, to the specialisms they perform. But as lifelong learners and inherently curious people, they also demonstrate a facility in switching specialisms. When the context shifts, so do they. They are fluid and flexible.

The Neo-Generalist quotes

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