I’ve often wondered whether I’m a generalist or a specialist.  In technical work, we tend to celebrate depth: mastering a specific domain until you know every aspect of it.  But many of the most pressing problems today don’t fit neatly inside a single box.

Specialists dive deeply into one area — signal processing, embedded design, retail analytics, for example — and develop mastery over its tools, theory, and nuances.  Their value lies in their deep expertise.  Generalists, on the other hand, thrive in multidisciplinary spaces.  They move comfortably across systems and disciplines, connecting ideas that others might not see.  A generalist can shift from data wrangling to visualization to interpretation, or from mechanical design to control systems to analytics, all while keeping their eyes on the big picture.   When the challenge spans several domains, or where the problem isn’t well defined, a generalist becomes essential.

In many organizations, though, career success tends to favor specialization.  Companies push you to be known as the person who does X — the one-trick pony whose personal brand depends on depth.  But that mindset can overlook the value of intellectual agility: the ability to adapt, collaborate, and synthesize across domains.  The real strength lies in being a hybrid — deep in at least one area, yet broad enough to communicate, connect, and contribute beyond it.

That’s the essence of the “T-shaped” professional: deep expertise in one discipline, supported by a broad foundation of complementary knowledge.  But even better than a T is a rotated E — someone with deep capability in several areas, all linked by curiosity and adaptability.  That’s Track 2 Analytics: technically rigorous yet cross-disciplinary, designed to tackle problems that don’t come with neat boundaries — the kind where both depth and breadth make the difference.

What kind of professional are you?