Highlights:

• Watching a few young girls get creative on a paper cup. One started by drawing a flower near the base of the cup. The next one drew one other thing, and it kept going until the cup was full of amazing sketches from every one around the table.
• I didn’t get to watch it today in person because I was at another event: The 11 year old performed at the local garden festival, & is getting the hang of what it means to perform. I didn’t get a chance to write yesterday either – a whole day of logistics for the musicianship auditions, to watch the young fellow perform with a pianist.

What are the downsides to generalism?

Analogous to networks, specialists are the nodes, and generalists are the edges that connect the nodes. Generalism often entails a ‘T’ shaped skilled person: one deep specialisation that has a management skill added on top to give some breadth. It is so to keep the person’s career progressing within the hierarchy in which they operate, speaking in the context of an organisation.

I’m not sure I see downsides to generalism at the present moment. I see behaviours from “general managers” that are awkward or short-sighted, and if I were to apply their time horizon to myself, I don’t think I’d behave differently either.