Generalist vs Specialist

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More than 75% of the skills we use day to day in the architectural field are things we learnt after we got out of school. When I entered into my practice, I was told from the earliest days to be ‘Jack of all trades and master of none.’

But I had to choose whether I would be a generalist with a wide breadth of knowledge, or a specialist with deep understanding of a single subject. During years, I observed that highly talented specialists get promoted and eventually become company heads unable to comprehend other essential parts of the organization. They are used to being told what to do and when to do it. On the other hand, generalists wear many hats and accomplish the diverse kinds of tasks that come up in a building process. After many years of experience and observation, I have come to believe that generalists do better as leaders than specialists. 

It is not that architects and engineers with specialized knowledge (such as design) cannot succeed in this competitive environment. Sure, they can. The best thing to do is to identify your strengths and concentrate on doing the best that you can. If you are better at being a specialist then you should be just that. Trying to pull people out of that role and force them into a generalist role invariable fails. Good companies recognize that both roles are crucial to their success. 

But if you wish to start your own practice, only design skills are not enough. Opportunities to manage projects where multiple groups have to interact tend to go to architects who are perhaps more generalists that can step outside their box and learn about how the other parts of the business work. 

“Think designers are odd ducks, who should be confined to their desks?

Wrong! They should sit at the CEO’S immediate right at the Boardroom table!”

– Tom Peters in his book- Design

Apart from design; public speaking, project management and team building skills are a few of the most crucial skills an architect. Thus, after 30 years of my practice, I have developed myself to be ‘Jack of all, master of management.’

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