What Young People Don't Know

http://betashop.com/post/28856491173/5-things-young-people-dont-know

by espadagroup • 14 years ago

9 8 14 years ago

mike626• 14 years ago

"Specialists get farther than generalists." I think this is a statement of very dubious veracity.

B-Con• 14 years ago

I thought it was odd as well. I think that he meant that the guy who knows a subject very well is more likely to be advanced in responsibility/seniority quickly.

greenyoda• 14 years ago

If I wanted to promote somebody to be the lead developer for a small project, I might be satisfied with someone who knew the code for that project very well. But if I wanted to promote someone beyond that level, I'd be looking for somebody who knew different parts of the company's products and how they worked together (e.g., the UI and the back-end), and who understood the needs of the customers to some degree -- someone who could see the "big picture".

betashop• 14 years ago

I'll defend this position.

I'd rather someone be deep that shallow. In my career I've found that people who have unique talents tend to rise to the top because they offer that unique something that others dont.

Now, that unique talent can also be something broad like being a general, or being the the guy whose best at code reviews.

My point is that you've got to be really good at something, not just kinda good at a lot of things.

elric1v• 14 years ago

I also agree with 2-5, but don't agree that specialists always get further than generalists. I'm very much a generalist -- within the fairly broad realm of infrastructure architecture, that is -- and I think that's served me very well. To understand the whole thing, whatever it is, is very valuable.

espadagroup• 14 years ago

Within your world you may be a generalist, but the OP is not a programmer and many if not most of the people he is talking about are not either. To them and most people you are very specialized.

frankienwafili• 14 years ago

I don't think that any of those 5 things are particularly restricted to or more commonly found amongst young people.

What Young People Don't Know

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