“When the economy is slower, there is a greater demand for specialists”

In today’s world are generalists preferred more than specialists? Is specialisation passe? Where is the industry heading? In this podcast on Mrigashira, Abhijit Bhaduri, Founder & CEO, Abhijit Bhaduri & Associates, talks about the importance of deep skills.

You can listen to the podcast here: https://www.mrigashirapodcast.com/episode/meaningful-career-is-all-about-adaptability-versus-rigidity/

Do you feel specialists are not preferred these days?

We are going to live in a hybrid world, and it is going to be a continuum. So, for example, if you ask people to work from home versus being in the office, which is better, you will find that it's going to be along the spectrum. Some people will entirely switch to work from home, some will say back in the office, and some will have that in-between. The questions of specialists versus generalist are similar. The question is, what do you think about generalists? What is their advantage? Instead of looking at it from a specialist versus generalist lens, I would think about it as adaptability versus rigidity. Even if you are a specialist, the ability to work across many different contexts makes you really in demand in the market. So, if you are a marketing person or a PR person, having done a certain kind of work, you understand digital, you also understand brand management, analytics, then how do you bring it all together? And you potentially also understand B2B and B2C. You are looking at it from a specialist lens. It is pretty much the same at a broader level, and the context is different.

Adaptability versus rigidity, does it lead to lack of deep focus? Does it make people rolling stones?

No. We all need to have deep skills that we can apply in multiple contexts. We need to bring in the specialist kind of lens. When the economy is slower, there is a greater demand for specialists. When there is very little time to fix things, you will not go for somebody general. You will look for someone who is a specialist in fixing that problem. When there are opportunities galore, then you also are willing to take chances with other skills.

How do you develop deep skill in a quick point of time?

Today, the ability to build your skill becomes infinitely more effortless because of three different models of learning. One is education. You can do a quick course. The second is exposure to multiple people and schools of thought. Today, you can look at different people and follow their work on various social platforms. The third is experience. You practice what you have learned and picked up. It is a combination of these three that makes it possible for people to pick up the skills early enough.

What is your advice or suggestion to people on skill development?

From an employer’s point of view, the ability to invest in growing people is a tremendous investment to make. It is not an act of charity. It is a great way to create new business models. Going out on a limb, making that investment, developing that human talent works well for both the employer and the employee. When a business model becomes redundant, it is terrible for the employer and employee. I think the whole notion of an individual requiring an organisation to be the middle person before you reach a consumer, the person who’s going to pay for your skills, is becoming redundant. It is not like organisations will disappear. They won’t. But this whole notion that all of us are necessarily going to finish education and look for employment – that mindset will change over time. You will see more people reaching their consumers directly.

Look at Substack. The number of journalists who are on that platform today are moving away from media and taking their audience with them. They are earning revenues. So, employers and employees need to look at this whole business of connecting with the reader, build the community, share ideas and receive ideas, engage in a two-way communication. If you are doing that, opportunities are going to be there for you always.