In Defence of the Generalist

It starts early, the pressure to choose.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” they ask, expecting a singular, neatly packaged answer. A doctor. A lawyer. A teacher. A scientist.

As if the world operates in silos!!

But for some of us, the idea of picking just one thing, one career, one passion, one singular identity is actually suffocating. The notion of "niching down," of specialising to the exclusion of all else, feels less like focus and more like limitation. Some of us thrive not by narrowing our vision but by widening it, by stretching across disciplines, ideas, and industries. We are generalists. Polymaths. Multi-passionate wanderers in a world obsessed with singularity.

I have many interests. I run a leadership development company. I love creating video and podcast content. I dabble in investing through patient capital. I am passionate about art collecting from those of African and Caribbean heritage. I love gardening and the sustainable ecosystem around not just food security, but energy and water management. And I love writing. So why the heck would I want to niche down, when my energy takes me to so many places?

Society loves an expert.

The surgeon who has spent decades perfecting a single type of operation. The academic who has devoted their life to one corner of history. The software engineer who codes in a language most people have never heard of.

There’s no denying that deep expertise is valuable. But what often gets overlooked is that innovation, the truly groundbreaking kind, rarely happens in isolation. It happens at the intersections, where different fields collide. It’s the scientist who understands art, the entrepreneur who studies psychology, the historian who applies the lessons of the past to the present.

Some of the greatest minds in history were generalists. Leonardo da Vinci was not just an artist but an anatomist, engineer, and architect. Benjamin Franklin was a writer, scientist, and diplomat. Maya Angelou was a poet, singer, and activist. They thrived not because they picked a single lane, but because they refused to be confined to one.

In a world that is changing at an unprecedented pace, adaptability is more valuable than specialisation. The days of staying in the same profession for life are long gone. Careers shift, industries evolve, and once essential skills become obsolete.

Generalists are built for this kind of world. They can pivot, cross disciplines, and apply knowledge from one area to another in ways that specialists often can’t. A generalist doesn’t just learn what to think, we learn how to think, across multiple domains.

And while specialists drill down, generalists connect the dots. They bring fresh perspectives, spot patterns others might miss, and approach problems with a broader toolkit. Probably why I love inclusive leadership amongst other things, because it is so systemic. Many of the world’s top leaders, from CEOs to politicians, aren’t the best in any one area, they are the ones who can see the bigger picture, synthesise information, and make decisions across multiple fields.

Creativity Lives in the Overlap

For many of us, the thought of committing to just one thing forever is unbearable. Not because we lack discipline, but because curiosity is our driving force. We love learning, exploring, making connections where others see barriers.

Creativity thrives on variety. The most interesting ideas often come from unexpected sources. Where music meets science, where business meets psychology, where history informs technology. When you live at these intersections, your work becomes richer, more innovative, and often more fulfilling.

And yet, despite all this, generalists are often made to feel as if they’re doing something wrong.

"You need to specialise to be successful."

"Jack of all trades, master of none."

"You’ll never make real progress unless you focus on one thing."

But let’s not forget how that saying really ends.
Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one.

So here’s to those of us who resist being boxed in. Who choose exploration over convention. Who thrive in variety, in curiosity, in constant learning.

The world needs specialists, yes. But it also needs those who refuse to be just one thing.

It needs generalists.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

It's a different path, not a lesser one.