I often compare specialization in terms of the limiting behavior of the Dirac delta function: The specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing, while a generalist is someone who knows less and less about more and more until they know nothing about everything. In either case the function integrates to unity. Teams are logically sensible as organizational entities but have lately become panaceas for rigid dogmatic managers. Being a team player is not always the best way.
I'm not sure I fully grasped your comment, Stephen, so I apologize in advance if my answer is not relevant. Humans are complex, and that's why we try from time to time to find patterns, like in this case. The important thing, though, is how you use these patterns. I think it's fine to use them in a holistic way to try to make better decisions and empower the people you work with. It's less fine to use them to discriminate, label for the sake of it, etc.
Thank you, Jordan, and please let me know if there's any feedback or if there's anything that would make sense to add to the article after you've shared it with your mentees!
I think the biggest benefit of T-shape and Pi-shaped is the possibility of synergies. Going to the extremes of generalist or specialist, I think it could be hard to get the knowledge to relate different concepts and make an impact (Generalist lacks depth, specialist lacks big picture).
But having somewhat a deep knowledge in 1-2 areas plus the big picture can spark connections that others don't even imagine
As this post is focused on the engineering manager point of view, I'm curious what would you advise an individual contributor? I think specialist would make it easier to pursue one track, but if the track gets disrupted for any reason it would make it hard to adapt to a new track. If looking for a safer bet I would aim to be T or Pi shapes
Fran, I don't think there's necessarily a winner here (and I hope it was clear in the article). Having a diverse team, with people who are more flexible and more focused on the big picture, people who are more specialized, and some people in the middle, imho, is the best.
It's interesting how you thought directly from the perspective of a team and I thought from the individual contributor point of view.
I agree that diverse teams work great together. Consider the analogy that an individual contributor has multiple skills the same way that a team has multiple people. For my career, I think I prefer to become a T-shape or Pi-shape. It gives me the diversity and synergies between my skills, the same way that diverse people give it to your team.
Of course, this is my personal opinion of how I think of my career, I wouldn't say there is a "right" or "wrong". In the end, we go nowhere alone 👍
That's a great article Nicola, very well written and articulated. You set a high bar :)
Regarding the T-shaped - when I think about it, what mostly comes to mind is the technological expertise. The example you gave is in very different skills: Code/Hardware/Leadership/Design/Cloud. Being a specialist in code is kind of general.
I imaging a specialist being a Python developer, a T-shaped being a backend developer with Python preferences, and a generlist a fullstack developer :)
Thanks, Anton! I think it all depends on the zoom level. I'm a natural-born Generalist, and what you see there comprises a good part of my area of expertise, which I then narrowed down to Specialists and T-Shaped. If you look at it from a developer's point of view, what you wrote would definitely apply better 🙂
Yeah, I understood your POV, and I'm a bit similar in that case. But in the context of building teams, people usually think about those terms in a more technical sense.
I didn't know there were more shapes. To me everyone who wasn't a specialist was a generalist. Interesting to see the breakdown and how it can help with team building.
What do you think team leaders typically are? Is there a single answer?
This is the topic that is in my mind since few weeks and I am starting to see a lit of advantages of being a generalist
Grzegorz, even though, as I wrote, T-Shaped is the latest trend, I'm also a happy generalist 😀
The biggest advantage I see is not sticking to one way of thinking.
Also it is easier to me to get onboarded into new projects regardless to industry and product.
I have been reading The Range by David Epstein last 2 weeks and for sure this is topic worth tackling.
I often compare specialization in terms of the limiting behavior of the Dirac delta function: The specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing, while a generalist is someone who knows less and less about more and more until they know nothing about everything. In either case the function integrates to unity. Teams are logically sensible as organizational entities but have lately become panaceas for rigid dogmatic managers. Being a team player is not always the best way.
I'm not sure I fully grasped your comment, Stephen, so I apologize in advance if my answer is not relevant. Humans are complex, and that's why we try from time to time to find patterns, like in this case. The important thing, though, is how you use these patterns. I think it's fine to use them in a holistic way to try to make better decisions and empower the people you work with. It's less fine to use them to discriminate, label for the sake of it, etc.
Love this overview and great advice for how to think about hiring for these roles as an engineering leader.
I'd also like to save this to share with my mentees to help them decide which path may be right for them as they grow.
Thanks for putting together this awesome article, Nicola!
Thank you, Jordan, and please let me know if there's any feedback or if there's anything that would make sense to add to the article after you've shared it with your mentees!
Will do!
I think the biggest benefit of T-shape and Pi-shaped is the possibility of synergies. Going to the extremes of generalist or specialist, I think it could be hard to get the knowledge to relate different concepts and make an impact (Generalist lacks depth, specialist lacks big picture).
But having somewhat a deep knowledge in 1-2 areas plus the big picture can spark connections that others don't even imagine
As this post is focused on the engineering manager point of view, I'm curious what would you advise an individual contributor? I think specialist would make it easier to pursue one track, but if the track gets disrupted for any reason it would make it hard to adapt to a new track. If looking for a safer bet I would aim to be T or Pi shapes
Fran, I don't think there's necessarily a winner here (and I hope it was clear in the article). Having a diverse team, with people who are more flexible and more focused on the big picture, people who are more specialized, and some people in the middle, imho, is the best.
Absolutely Nicola
It's interesting how you thought directly from the perspective of a team and I thought from the individual contributor point of view.
I agree that diverse teams work great together. Consider the analogy that an individual contributor has multiple skills the same way that a team has multiple people. For my career, I think I prefer to become a T-shape or Pi-shape. It gives me the diversity and synergies between my skills, the same way that diverse people give it to your team.
Of course, this is my personal opinion of how I think of my career, I wouldn't say there is a "right" or "wrong". In the end, we go nowhere alone 👍
That's a great article Nicola, very well written and articulated. You set a high bar :)
Regarding the T-shaped - when I think about it, what mostly comes to mind is the technological expertise. The example you gave is in very different skills: Code/Hardware/Leadership/Design/Cloud. Being a specialist in code is kind of general.
I imaging a specialist being a Python developer, a T-shaped being a backend developer with Python preferences, and a generlist a fullstack developer :)
Thanks, Anton! I think it all depends on the zoom level. I'm a natural-born Generalist, and what you see there comprises a good part of my area of expertise, which I then narrowed down to Specialists and T-Shaped. If you look at it from a developer's point of view, what you wrote would definitely apply better 🙂
Yeah, I understood your POV, and I'm a bit similar in that case. But in the context of building teams, people usually think about those terms in a more technical sense.
I didn't know there were more shapes. To me everyone who wasn't a specialist was a generalist. Interesting to see the breakdown and how it can help with team building.
What do you think team leaders typically are? Is there a single answer?