There’s No Such Thing as a Generalist
👋Hi! I'm Molly. This is where I share the lessons I’ve learned from building fast-moving, messy, ambitious companies. For more from me, you can also find me on the WorkLife Podcast, on LinkedIn, and in Glue Club, a community for leaders who care about building great companies.
For the first part of my career, I wandered from function to function like the lost duck in Are You My Mother? I started in publishing, then moved into communications, HR, Recruiting, Biz Dev, Product, and on and on. Every few years, I’d walk up to a new function and ask, Is this where I belong?
Some felt right but too limiting (HR). Others were a resounding NO like Product (turns out, I don’t care whether the button is blue or green).
But through that wandering, I realized something: my skills transcended a single function. I wasn’t a great product manager, but I always have a product mindset when solving problems. I wasn’t just an HR leader, but one of my greatest strengths is that I know how to motivate and align people. My abilities cut across traditional job titles.
Some would call me a generalist.
I fucking hate that word.
The “Generalist” vs. “Specialist” Debate Is Lazy Thinking
People love categorizing things. Introvert or extrovert. Night owl or morning person. Generalist or specialist.
Generalists vs. specialists — which is better and why? You’ve probably come across at least one think-piece or thread on this topic. It’s everywhere, and people have very strong opinions about it.
I reject the premise entirely. In my experience, there is no such thing as a generalist because everyone is a specialist in something.
