y Anthony Demangone
We live in an age of specialization. As risks, regulations, technology, products and services multiply, more and more employees will be responsible for an ever-smaller slice of the pie.
There are benefits to specialization. Workers with very specific skill sets can do amazing things in small spaces. Think of a scalpel, compared to a butter knife.
But are specialists preferable to generalists?
Here are five reasons to love generalists.
- It is hard to surprise a generalist.A generalist may not have a deep understanding of every issue. But they track a high number of them.If an issue evolves, the generalist has a good shot of seeing the change.
- Generalists evade "Specialist Bias." Ask a litigation attorney to review a case file of an employee about to be terminated, and he or she will highlight every conceivable risk related to employee lawsuits. Ask a fraud specialist to review your policies and procedures, and you'll find that you're lacking in fraud-related internal controls. Specialists make a living in finding problems related to their speciality. There's nothing wrong with that, but organizations have limited resources. Everythingcannot be a priority. Specialists often see their area as priority for everyone.
- Generalists connect the dots.Often, developments in one area have a huge effect on another. Those in specialized silos are more likely to miss the connetion. How many times has a major membership outreach been launched, only to find out later that no one thought to consult/warn membership services?It happens more than you'd like to think.