RWL Newsletter #129 - specialists vs generalists
Greetings from Dublin, Ireland! I spent the first part of this week in Nottingham, England, attending the University Forum for Human Resource Development at the Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, now I am in having a little “holiday” in Dublin. Life is good! (picture is of Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the oldest pub in England)
While in Nottingham, I had the opportunity to present a paper my colleague Cindy Hartman and I have been working on about the role organizations have in socializing early careerists as they make the school to work transition, The Mediating Effects of Organizational Socialization on the School to Work Transition. I’ve made a video of the presentation and it’s this week’s “watch”. Tooting my own horn a little!
This week has a theme - and it is specialists vs. generalists. I’m really excited about all three links - I hope you check them out. I’d especially appreciate feedback about my presentation.
Read
What: The Atlantic, Expertise is out. One sailor does the job of five. Is this the future we want? By Jerry Useem
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/future-of-work-expertise-navy/590647/
Why: The Navy is fielding a new class of combat ships that are manned by a fraction of the number of sailors that have historically manned similar sized ships. This reduction in manning is made possible through technology, but it requires a different kind of sailor: one who is a generalist and who is capable of constantly learning and upgrading his/her skills. This effort by the Navy is used to consider the modern labor market and where it is going. Is there any point in becoming a hyper-specialist? While the story is fascinating, I’m not sure there is much new here. I think the labor market has always has a need for specialists and generalists. Perhaps the ratios are shifting? Perhaps it depends on the industry? I think the main risk of hyper-specialization is obsolescence of one’s knowledge. Case in point - radiologists are some of the most highly paid physicians. But AI programs can now read images better (more accurately, more consistently) than humans. What I expect we’ll see in the near future is AI doing primary reads with a human radiologist doing oversight, and then eventually just AI reading. We’ll still need radiologists, but a whole lot fewer of them. Anyway, the article is really fascinating - well worth a read.
Watch
What: Bonica & Hartman, The Mediating Effects of Organizational Socialization on the School to Work Transition. (19 minutes)
Why: As mentioned above, this is a video of my presentation. I recorded the audio of my talk on my iPhone (so the sound is just OK) and added the slides to go along with it. If you are a manager and hire new graduates, you should check out our lecture. I think we make some important points about integrating new graduates to your enterprise.
The subjects of my study are early careerists, which means they have made a commitment to a career (in this case, healthcare administration). The talk is about bringing these early specialists on board and into an organization.
Listen
What: Econtalk, David Epstein on Mastery, Specialization, and Range (100 min)
http://www.econtalk.org/david-epstein-on-mastery-specialization-and-range/
Why: This is a long interview, but I would recommend at least the first 30 minutes. This clip is from about the 14 minute mark:
The way that chess works makes it what's called a kind learning environment... And what a kind learning environment is, is one where patterns recur; ideally a situation is constrained--so, a chessboard with very rigid rules and a literal board is very constrained; and, importantly, every time you do something you get feedback that is totally obvious--all the information is available, the feedback is quick, and it is 100% accurate. Right? And this is chess. And this is golf. You do something: all the information is available; you see the consequences. The consequences are completely immediate and accurate. And you adjust accordingly. And in these kinds of kind learning environments, if you are cognitively engaged you get better just by doing the activity. On the opposite end of the spectrum are wicked learning environments. And this is a spectrum, from kind to wicked. Wicked learning environments: often some information is hidden. Even when it isn't, feedback may be delayed. It may be infrequent. It may be nonexistent. And it maybe be partly accurate, or inaccurate in many of the cases.
I’ve been thinking about this idea of kind vs. wicked learning systems and it really resonates with me. This goes back to the Navy article above - combat is a wicked environment. It’s always a wicked environment. So generalists will always have value.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau