Specialists X Generalists

Nowadays we have all kinds of professionals, between them, specialists and generalists. In my opinion, more than being considerate one or another, the professional has to be serious and respected in what he does. I will talk about both and give my view point in each category.

First, I will start with the specialists.

They really know about the subject they specialized, they are constantly studying and giving all their research and attention to the topic that they choose to follow. They are also constantly exposed to exploring different conditions and find answers more rapidly because they have the main focus.

For example, someone who is a specialist in growing flowers, will absolutely know almost everything in that area and will try to update all the knowledge he has to become better in what he does.

Generalists, are people who are studying something in a different way, I mean, they are not just focused in some area. They are open to different possibilities in that area and they know a lot of things about other areas that they can relate with the main area.

Specialists are good when you need a logical answer, because they know what you have to do for that specific case.

Generalists are good when you don't know what's going on, and need to find more answers or even define a condition, because they will relate different knowledge and fields to the topic.

For example, if you are feeling a pain in your stomach and you don't know what's causing it, the first step is to go to a generalist to eliminate possibilities and to analyze all of them at the same time. Than when you eliminate the general possibilities, you will find a central cause, condition, answer, and you must focus on it. In this case if you discover that the pain you were having was because an stomach disorder, you will be refereed to a stomach specialist in order to find a solution to your problem.

In conclusion, these two categories of professionals are good, specially when they work together, the acquaintance of one will be helpful to the other.




by Michele Bitencourt