Breadth and Depth: How to Overcome the Generalist Dilemma

Do you feel like you have to specialize early and stick to one thing for the rest of your life to be successful? If so, you're not alone. Many of us have been taught that the formula for excellence is to start practicing as soon as possible and don't stop until you're the best in the world. But what if this formula is not ideal for everyone? What if there's another way to achieve greatness that doesn't involve narrowing your focus and limiting your options?

In this article, we'll explore how to balance breadth and depth in your career and life by understanding the difference between wicked and kind learning environments, and how to thrive in both.

Wicked and Kind Learning Environments

Not all domains are created equal. Some are more predictable and structured than others. Some reward specialization, while others favor generalization. In his book, Range, David Epstein uses the terms wicked and kind to describe these different types of domains.

Kind learning environments

These are domains where there are clear rules, patterns, and feedback, such as chess, golf, or firefighting. In these domains, specialists can excel by accumulating experience and expertise. They can learn from their mistakes and improve their skills over time. They can also rely on their intuition and judgment to make quick and accurate decisions.

Wicked learning environments

Fields where there are no clear rules, patterns, or feedback, such as entrepreneurship, politics, or art. In these domains, specialists can struggle by relying on narrow experience and expertise that may not apply to new situations. They can fall prey to overconfidence and confirmation bias. They can also miss out on opportunities and insights that come from exploring different perspectives and approaches.

How can you tell if a domain is wicked or kind? Here are some clues:

Kind learning environments are more constrained, repetitive, and predictable than wicked ones.

Regular patterns that can be learned and exploited. And so, success and failure are more objectively measurable than wicked ones. For example, chess has a fixed board and pieces and a clear outcome of checkmate or stalemate; golf has a defined course and holes and a precise score of strokes taken; and firefighting has a standard protocol and equipment and firefighting has a tangible result of extinguishing the fire or not. These domains have immediate and reliable feedback that can guide improvement.

Wicked environments, however, are more open-ended, diverse, and uncertain.

Success and failure are logically more subjective in this context. For example, entrepreneurship has no fixed rules or boundaries and no unique criterion for success or failure. Politics have multiple actors and agendas and no recognized goal or outcome. Art has endless possibilities and interpretations with no universal standard of value or quality. This results in irregular patterns and delayed and ambiguous feedback that can mislead or confuse.

So how to deal with such disparity? The key is to adapt to our environment.

Why We Need Breadth and Depth

Now that we know the difference between wicked and kind learning environments, we can see why we need both breadth and depth to succeed in them.

On Breadth

Breadth refers to having a wide range of skills and experiences that span across different domains.

Breadth is essential for succeeding in wicked learning environments, where the rules are unclear or incomplete, and the situations are novel or complex.

Having breadth allows us to:

• Develop match quality: Match quality is the degree of fit between our abilities and interests and the work we do. By sampling different domains, we can discover what we like and what we're good at, and find the best match for our career. For example, Vincent van Gogh tried many different occupations before becoming a painter at age 27.

  
  

• Improve problem-solving and creativity: By learning from different domains, we can draw analogies and transfer knowledge from one context to another. This helps us to solve problems that we haven't seen before and generate novel ideas that combine elements from different fields. Johannes Kepler used his knowledge of optics and geometry to explain planetary motion.

  
  

• Adapt to changing circumstances: By acquiring new skills and perspectives, we can prepare ourselves for the future and cope with uncertainty. We can also leverage our diverse experiences to find new opportunities and connections that may not be obvious to others. Frances Hesselbein transitioned from being a Girl Scout leader to being a management guru by applying her leadership skills to different sectors.

On Depth

Depth refers to having a high level of skill and experience that focuses on one domain.

Depth is essential for succeeding in kind learning environments, where the rules are clear and consistent, and the situations are familiar or routine.

Having depth allows us to:

• Master the rules and patterns: By practicing deliberately and receiving feedback, we can learn the rules and patterns of a domain and become experts in it. We can also develop mental models and frameworks that help us to organize and recall information. Magnus Carlsen became a chess grandmaster at age 13 by studying thousands of chess games.

  
  

• Optimize our performance and efficiency: By automating our actions and decisions, we can perform faster and better with less effort and error. We can also refine our skills and techniques to achieve optimal results. Tiger Woods honed his golf swing from an early age by repeating it over and over again

  
  

• Achieve excellence and recognition: By standing out from the crowd, we can gain respect and admiration from our peers and customers. We can also contribute to the advancement of our field and create a lasting legacy. Marie Curie became the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes for her groundbreaking research on radioactivity.

  
  

As generalists, we’ll tend to have a lot more breadth than we do depth. We may not be interested in investing time and effort into any kind of environment in order to master it. And that’s fine. It all comes down to personal choices and preferences. But it’s critical to be able to recognize the environment as either wicked or kind, before making the choice.

And life isn’t always black or white.

At one point or another, we’ll need breadth AND depth to achieve our goals. It’s just a matter of nuances and degrees.

Conclusion

The key takeaway is that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for success.

Depending on the domain and the situation, you may need more breadth or more depth, or a combination of both. The challenge is to find your optimal balance and adjust it as you go along.

As a generalist, you have a unique and valuable skill set that can help you succeed in today's complex and dynamic world. You don't have to choose between being good at many things and being great at a few. You can be both.

So don't be afraid to explore your range and pursue your interests.

Don't be discouraged by the pressure to specialize early and stick to one thing. Don't be limited by the expectations of others or yourself.

Embrace your diversity and curiosity as a source of strength and creativity. You never know what you might discover or achieve along the way.

Until next time!

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This article is part of a series on the topic of generalists and how they can find their purpose. We’ll provide opinion pieces, but also practical guides as well as interviews with contemporary generalists who’ll share their journey with us. Stay tuned!