Generalists
and Specialists
Charlie Earl
Every
academic discipline, every trade, every industry and every organization is
populated by generalists and specialists. In essence…generalists know a little
about a lot while specialists know a lot about a little. They’re very
different, but they complement one another. Generalists see the treetops while
specialists count the trees, or to put it another way, generalists view the
fields and specialists dig among the weeds. It’s the “big picture” versus the
detail-oriented approach to life and life’s events. Generalism and specialism
are not hard and fast for every person in every circumstance. You might be a
specialist in accounting, but very much a generalist in sports knowledge. When
it’s time for a division of labor within an organization or a movement, it is
important that generalists are involved because of their vision and specialists
for their in-depth knowledge of detail.
While the
two types are complementary, they sometimes have difficulty working together.
The specialist often thinks the generalist is insensitive about critical
details, and the generalist believes that the specialist gets too bogged down
with minutiae. They’re both right. They both are necessary for an effective
organization or movement. If the generalist is the only one with input, then
many critical facets or consequences may be overlooked. If the specialists are
in charge, the organization will resemble a stultified bureaucracy and may fail
to acknowledge the potential impact of seemingly unrelated intervening
variables.
The
generalist-specialist dynamic is undermined, however, if it becomes an
“outliner versus detail-oriented” model. Many “outliners” behave as if they
were generalists, but their lack of research and thought merely leads them to
sketch plans and directions. It is then left to the detail-oriented people to
implement the program. Too often, though, the outliner is unhappy with the
detailer’s work because it doesn’t precisely match his internal vision of the
project. The detailer finds him/herself in a quandary: transforming the vague
inarticulate musings of the outliner into a concrete plan that perfectly
matches the outliner’s mental picture. The detailer must be a mind reader as
well as a hands-on project manager. That formula doesn’t work very often or
very well. As “Cool Hand Luke” taught us “what we have is a failure to
communicate.”
Generalists
and outliners are similar except that the generalist’s concept is more ‘fleshed
out” than is the outliner’s. Generalists are generally good leaders who utilize
their specialists to fill in the gaps and cover potential contingencies.
Outliners simply provide a mental sketch that is often difficult for others to
grasp. Generalists study, learn and design. Outliners merely speculate. While
outliners do have a view of the big picture, their information gaps are
impossibly large, and the detailers are confronted with unenviable task of
trying to build a puzzle with too many missing pieces. Outliners are inadequate
delegators because they cannot or do not provide explicit instructions for
those who are tasked with bringing the project to fruition. Generalists are
aware of the path to be followed to achieve the goal and can effectively
describe the duties for those who must implement the plan.
It takes all
types to build a movement. Outliners shouldn’t be dismissed or ignored because
their contributions can be useful for brainstorming. It is the generalist….the
big-picture person…who should guide the rudder of the organization or group.
The detailers and specialists can follow the guidance for their specific areas
of expertise and make major contributions toward a complete plan of action. As
you will note, it takes all types of personalities to have a successful
program. They key is for people to work in the areas that are most productive
for them. Outliners, generalists, specialists and detailers can form a
formidable team working for liberty.
Charlie Earl
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