By Lev Kaye Who’s more valuable to your organization: Someone who can ‘wear multiple hats’ or someone who’s very talented at one thing? How would you advise a student looking at college options: Pursue a degree that exposed her to a range of disciplines and taught her to think critically in different contexts, or pursue … Continue reading LinkedIn: Generalists vs. Specialists, who owns the future?
Musical Chairing: listen to more voices not fewer to find harmony
By John Worne Boards sometimes need to listen to all the players - not just the loudest - to really perform. It's a tough job chairing any kind of board; you're there to assure scrutiny, accountability and governance. But the pressure is always on to 'get through the business', cut discussion short and 'keep out … Continue reading Musical Chairing: listen to more voices not fewer to find harmony
Don’t sell IT and Tech on Nirvana
By John Worne Hard-pressed managers need to see an immediate direct local benefit from technology roll-outs before they'll truly invest time in them. Many IT implementations are conceived and sold on the 'value-added' benefits to the whole organisation. I call these 'Nirvana benefits' and they are seldom realised. Line and business unit managers will often play … Continue reading Don’t sell IT and Tech on Nirvana
The Guardian: Specialists or Generalists: what do employers really want?
By Helen Crane More than half of employees with specialist skills now consider their job to be mostly generalist despite the fact that they were employed for their niche skills, according to recent survey. Oliver Watson, managing director at PageGroup, who undertook the research, says: "If this trend continues, we risk creating a generation of … Continue reading The Guardian: Specialists or Generalists: what do employers really want?
The very worst that could happen…
By John Worne Sometimes it helps to talk frankly about the very worst that could happen. Whether its IT disasters, climbing construction budgets or tricky HR problems, at times professionals can be fearful of things going wrong; and really fearful of taking the blame. Sometimes as a Specialist-Generalist it helps to get people to talk … Continue reading The very worst that could happen…
High Hurdles – get over the subtle recruitment barriers
By John Worne Many public bodies and long-service organisations create high hurdles to new joiners. Unintentionally; often. But on the comparatively rare occasions general management jobs go 'external', job descriptions, shortlisting and recruitment panels often focus on too many 'essential' characteristics, highly sector specific knowledge and directly 'relevant' experience. As a result capable outsiders, newcomers, … Continue reading High Hurdles – get over the subtle recruitment barriers
Give your Gut
Years ago, I learnt from an American Procter & Gamble marketer that the first thing to do when presented with a piece of creative work is to 'give your gut' - your honest, instinctive, often slightly inarticulate gut reaction to what you're seeing. This takes a bit if courage as a Specialist-Generalist; especially facing the … Continue reading Give your Gut
Mapping the Future? Understand the numbers and follow your values.
When is comes to mapping the future, numbers and values are your best guides. Most modern organisations sit on mountains of unused data. This week I saw a simple piece of analysis, which showed that what we actually do is quite different from what we think we do. The true weight of activity, costs and … Continue reading Mapping the Future? Understand the numbers and follow your values.
The Specialist-Generalist 