#009: To succeed, (maybe) quit being a generalist
Sometimes, weeks happen in decades. In others, decades happen in weeks.
Disclaimer: This edition was written by our community member, Varun Choraria.
Hi,
I hope all readers of this newsletter are well. Thanks again for the amazing response on the last edition. The paradox of choice in our own passion and work can get more blurry as we age, because a lot of us still need to satisfy a lot of societal norms to get through in life. So, is there a playbook for the same? Which is better- being a generalist or a specialist? While we identify ourselves as generalists in this community, let’s take time to focus on what the other side looks like in this edition.
Enjoy!
Week in Review: Highlights of our community
In #crazy-ideas, Matteo is trying to validate his side project, 71 lines. Essentially, he’s going to launch MVPs, and document the success and failure of it. What makes this interesting is that he’s going to build all of the software using a no-code stack. What’s in it for you? Matteo intends to share video tutorials so you can learn from it too. Drop him a line!
Shreyanshi Shah and her team at the product folks launched the Community Fund- an early stage fund for communities. She’s shared in the #general channel.
“With Covid & lockdowns, the world has truly moved online with lots of communities propping up to serve people with similar interests around the globe. Through Community Fund, we want to help budding communities on their journey so they could scale even more and impact positively across the world.”
Consider dropping them an upvote on product hunt!
New member: Aditya, co-founder of Astrogate Labs has been building free space optical communication terminals for small satellites. Do drop him a welcome note!
Ajay is back again with another interesting conversation with Shashwat Bhat, a member of our community. In this session, Shashwat and Ajay discuss startups, work-life balance, and much more!
Maybe you need to stop being a generalist
The truth is a bit more nuanced. You do get variety, but there are some catches:
Is your exposure an accurate view of what it’s really like?
Can you handle the paradox of choice?
Generalists are also found at early-stage companies where the most important thing is to roll up your sleeves. But as the company scales, generalists that do not have clear strengths are passed on for growth opportunities.
Promotions are based on strengths, preferably superpowers, not lack of weaknesses.
How to find your unique ‘signature blend’:
Some guiding questions:
What are you naturally drawn to?
What’s hard and boring for others, but relatively easy and fun for you?
What skills are in short supply and likely to persist?
What could you practice everyday that will transform your life in a year?
What is rarely found with your existing combination of skills?
In this fantastic article, Linda shares some really interesting frameworks on how to evaluate your side of the fence- whether you’re a specialist or a generalist.
While it’s good to know if you’re a specialist or a generalist, the path must eventually lead to an economic outcome. Maslow’s law is a universal truth of life, and so how do you know which path to pick to get to the top of the pyramid the fastest?
Nathan Barry presents an interesting framework, which he calls the ‘ladders of wealth creation.’
In this model the potential earnings increase the higher up each ladder you climb. They also increase as you move left to right to more advanced ladders. But the difficulty increases with each move as well.
Each step requires that you learn new skills to overcome those new challenges.
Your friends and colleagues might be missing out
But they don’t have to. If you’re receiving this newsletter for the first time, or know someone who might love to join our community, then getting in is as easy and quick as hitting the button below.