How to Lead Like a Neo-Generalist

Oh glorious day!

When I read this book, I felt a simultaneous sense of homecoming and vindication. The realization of immense possibilities gripped me in its clutches.

Friends, each chapter is written in deference to difference. Each page is a raised fist in defiance to boxes, labels, silos and status quo hugging.

Never again will I feel guilt-bullied into downplaying my hybrid status and multi-disciplinary preference. And when you read it, neither will you. “Labels stick only if we let them,” proclaim Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin in their book, ‘The Neo-Generalist: Where You Go is Where You Are.’

The Neo-Generalist is a bold and counter-conventional thinking book about the trans-discipline mindsets and skills needed to succeed in the modern world. Get your hands on the inside scoop.

Are you a Neo-Generalist or know of one?

From the back cover of their book, Mikkelsen and Martin, give us a few clues where to start with 2 questions.

Q1: "Have you encountered difficulties describing what you do to other people?” YES / NO.

Q2: “Have you ever labelled yourself in order to be understood?” YES / NO.

THE DESCRIPTION:

“... the neo-generalist defies easy classification. They are tricksters who traverse multiple domains, living between categories and labels. Encompassing rather than rejecting, the neo-generalist is both specialist and generalist. A restless multidisciplinarian, who is forever learning. They bring together diverse people, synthesising ideas and practice, addressing the big issues that confront us in order to shape a better future. […]

“Frequency hopping, the perfect metaphor for the neo-generalist; wandering, accumulating, sampling, mixing, putting into practise what they learn.”

• Does this description resonate with you?

• Does it match someone you know or with whom you work?

Curious, intrigued and thirsty to learn more, I followed the breadcrumb trail down the rabbit hole. I stumbled into a few dead ends. Nonetheless, I pressed on to discover more about trans-discipline adventurers. Serendipity and persistence lead me to a cracking article by Shane Parrish of Farnam Street blog. The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled.

At this point you may well be asking…

Why We Should Become Neo-Generalists

In our rapidly changing business world and unpredictable organisation environments, relying on tried and true industrial age approaches simply don’t cut it anymore  (did it ever?).

Danger lies in becoming too influenced by what is current and accepted as conventional wisdom. Risky action is doing what you have always done in the face of change.

Blind compliance to standards and best practices fail to address how to deal with the prevalence of unique situations in daily operations. Classic command and control management techniques buckle under the e fluidity and flux that define our work and business reality today.

"Blind compliance to best practices fails to address how to deal with the prevalence of unique situations in daily operations"

Furthermore, these traditional techniques are no match for employee and customer communities who no longer accept standard service and settle to be merely satisfied with their experience of the organisation.

The critical question. 

How to thrive in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world has become a Holy Grail quest for savvy leaders and business owners.

So should you / we adopt the behaviours and mindsets of a Neo-Generalist?

There is no right answer. Ultimately, you decide the path that is right for you.

You don’t want to find yourself mysteriously marginalized. Unknowingly letting yourself fall into a homogenized trap – your mindset polluted by mediocrity, your actions padded for comfort and unfit for change.

“If you can’t adapt, changes become threats instead of opportunities.” Shane Parrish.

This means we are compelled to step outside comfort zone.

Liberate yourself to experiment and make uncommon connections with different-thinking people and fresh ideas.  Expand beyond your current emotional and intellectual limits to feel and think in multi-disciplinary ways. Commonly held wisdom, standardized processes and norms don’t make sense when you must navigate constant change and forecast the unpredictable.

“Liberate yourself to experiment. Make new connections with different-thinking people and fresh ideas”

Consider Parrish’s prescription to build multi-disciplinary mind muscle.

“A generalizing specialist has a core competency which they know a lot about. At the same time, they are always learning and have a working knowledge of other areas. While a generalist has roughly the same knowledge of multiple areas, a generalizing specialist has one deep area of expertise and a few shallow ones. We have the option of developing a core competency while building a base of interdisciplinary knowledge”.

Adopting some of the Neo-Generalist / generalizing specialist mindsets and behaviours can set you on the path to surviving and thriving in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world.But how do you adapt those attributes to lead with panache, meaning, positive impact and success?

Here is a summary of what I learned from Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin; and Shane Parrish.

How to Lead Like a Neo-generalist (and be follow-worthy)

12 mindsets and behaviours to help you lead like a Neo-Generalist.

1. Embrace diversity of thought and emotion.

2. Bring unique perspectives and blended knowledge gathered from diverse experiences into your work.

3. Master multiple disciplines in varying depths. Choose to specialise in some and generalise in others.4. Hook, connect and inspire with novelty and authenticity.

5. Create a vibrant learning experience and environment. Educate as you entertain for maximum ‘stickability’.

6. Be curious, responsive and connective.

7. Thrive and be comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty.

8. See new patterns and paths to opportunities where others see chaos.

9. Empathise. Be a skipper adept inspiring others to leave the familiar and perceived safety of comfort for uncharted waters towards the new and different.

10. Be Purpose-led and a compelling visionary of a yet-to-be-manifested (better) reality.11. Be a contrarian and ruckus-maker for good – using “outsider-status” as a bridge to other communities and disciplines that expose the organisation to different ways of thinking and doing.

12. Synthesize ideas into actionable knowledge and practical solutions.• How are you leading Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world?

What other mindsets and behaviours can you add to the list

Curious and thirsty for more specifics about 'The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled'. Read the Farnam Street blog in full here.

Recommended read. Get your own copy  of ‘The Neo-Generalist: Where You Go is Where You Are’ by Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin.

Thank you Richard Martin for the inspiration to live and work like a ride on the Willy Wonka glass elevator.