If you want to rank who is an expert in your company from 1 to n, you might be surprised where you land. This happens because we invariably rank ourselves in the context of the skills that we have, and not the skills that we need to have and/or don’t have. I.e., when you rank yourself, you’re ranking yourself against your own yardstick, not everyone else’s. Who sits at the top might surprise you because…

Go outside, run as fast as you can. Then, without planning, spin around as fast as you can and go in the complete opposite direction. What happens? Someone who is a runner might navigate the change well, turn and go, ready for the next challenge. Someone who is an occasional runner might have to slow down, lose momentum, and work to catch up. Someone who isn’t a runner might stop, or possibly fall over, question…

If you can feel it coming at you, that is good, that’s the push, that’s the drive you need to keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t give up. Turn into it, face the wind, and move forward. Don’t get glide, coasting is for the week, push on. You’re so close.

Good news, the debate between generalists and specialists has raged on for decades. Even better news, AI will not change it. If Captain Picard can captain a starship and somehow know how to reprogram the deflector dish, there is still hope out there for all of us. Head down, back to work, ignore the hype.

Do you prefer this answer or this one? Do you want me to keep going? Do you want me to try again? No, be like a student, handing in their paper – you get one chance – give me your best. Be methodical, be precise, be clear and simple. People who fail multiple times aren’t doing so because their work was sloppy; it’s because it hasn’t yet, but failing because you threw some random things…