{"id":857,"date":"2019-07-26T20:08:37","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T01:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs\/?p=857"},"modified":"2019-07-26T20:09:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-27T01:09:06","slug":"open-minded-generalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs\/open-minded-generalists\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Generalists More Open-Minded?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Generalist or Specialist?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Are you a generalist, or a specialist, or both?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fair to say that on any topic you fall on a continuum\nfrom no knowledge, to some knowledge, to proficiency. Depending on the topic, there\nmay be more or fewer people in each category. (The green curve shows fewer\nexperts on the topic, and the red curve shows more.) In addition, you are\nlikely to be at different points of the curve for different topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of the curve\u2019s shape, who do you expect to be more\nopen to new information\u2014experts or uninformed people? It depends on who is more\ncurious and open to new viewpoints. That said, being a generalist\u2014a person in\nthe middle of the curve\u2014may have advantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent article\nby David Epstein<\/a> (author of Range:\nWhy Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World<\/em><\/a>) <\/em>lays this out. The\ngist is that generalists who dabble in a bunch of things build problem-solving\nskills by synthesizing information from multiple sources. The expansiveness of\nthe \u201cdabbling\u201d generates a stronger approach to problem-solving. It promotes \u201cactive\nopen-mindedness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Active open-mindedness is a hallmark of those who can make\ngood predictions. Rather than searching for data that confirms their opinions\n(assumptions), they consider new evidence, whether or not it supports their\nbeliefs. (The studies focused on geopolitical issues, but may have broader applications.)\nThis is a trait referred to as science\ncuriosity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScience curiosity is different from science knowledge. Science-curious folk always chose to look at new evidence, whether it aligned with their beliefs or not. Less science-curious adults became more resistant to contrary evidence and more politically polarized as they gained subject matter knowledge.\u201d<\/em><\/p> Source: Chances Are You\u2019re Not as Open-Minded As You Think<\/a> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There was another interesting statement in the article.\n\u201cCuriosity\u2014and a broad range of knowledge\u2014might be a kind of superpower.\u201d The\nsuperpower is the ability to transcend narrow-minded thinking.  And the narrow-mindedness may be stronger at\nthe extremes on the curve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Curse of Specialists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Specialists, by definition, devote themselves to the study\nof one subject or area of expertise. As they move toward \u201cguru\u201d status, they\nlearn more and more about less and less. That\u2019s not necessarily bad unless it pushes\nthem toward myopia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might appear that the in-depth education and knowledge required\nfor expertise is part of the problem. But it\u2019s more than that. A critical issue\nis how<\/em> they think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do they cherry-pick data that supports their viewpoint? Are\nnew insights ridiculed? Does ego get in the way? \u201cAre they curious?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Curse of the Uninformed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the other extreme, people who have no<\/em> knowledge on\na topic may be swayed too easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an old, crude movie called Idiocracy<\/a>, a dystopian comedy\nset 500 years in the future. In that future\u2014devoid of education, knowledge, and\nintellectual curiosity\u2014crops aren\u2019t growing because they were being irrigated\nwith a sports drink rather than with water. A man of average intelligence from\n2005 awakens in that society after having been in suspended animation from an\nexperiment long forgotten. He has trouble convincing the no-knowledge\npopulation of the value of water, but is eventually successful in sprouting new\ncrops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the uninformed can be just as set in their ways as some\nspecialists. That brings us to the middle of the curve, the generalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Potential of Generalists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Generalist are people whose skills can be applied to a\nvariety of disciplines. While they may not have the depth of knowledge specialists\nhave in a given field, they often know something about a lot of different subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a generalist gives you a level of curiosity that specialists\nsometimes don\u2019t have. Generalists rely on specialists, though. Generalists need\nin-depth information when they\u2019re making projections or decisions. But they\nalso need the ability to bring in counter points of view. That\u2019s why\ngeneralists in Epstein\u2019s research showed more predictive abilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are predicting something and you have no knowledge,\nthe prediction is a guess\u2014pure chance. If you are a specialist, you may be so\ninvested in the status quo that you overlook new possibilities. A generalist\ncan be the bridge needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Generalist or Specialist? Are you a generalist, or a specialist, or both? It\u2019s fair to say that on any topic you fall on a continuum from no knowledge, to some knowledge, to proficiency. Depending on the topic, there may be… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hodgepodge","category-product-management"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Generalists More Open-Minded? - Linda Gorchels blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Generalists with curiosity and "active open-mindedness" may exhibit a type of superpower that allows them to transcend myopic decision making.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs\/open-minded-generalists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Generalists More Open-Minded? 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