So over the last year or so we have started to resist this industry-wide push for narrow skills, by calling out this quality, which we call an Expert Generalist. Why did we use the word “expert”? There are two sides to real expertise. The first is the familiar depth: a detailed command of one domain's inner workings. The second, crucial in our fast-moving field is the ability to learn quickly, spot the fundamentals that run beneath shifting tools and trends, and apply them wherever we land

developers who roam across languages, architectures, and problem spaces may seem like “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none,” yet repeated dives below surface differences help them develop durable, principle-level mastery. Over time these generalists can dissect unfamiliar challenges, spot first-principles patterns, and make confident design decisions with the assurance of a specialist - and faster.

a lot of curiosity. When confronted with a new technology or domain, their default reaction is to want to discover more about it, to see how it can be used effectively. They are quite happy to spend time just exploring the new topic area, building up some familiarity before using it in action.

An effective combination of collaborative curiosity requires humility. Often when encountering new domains we see things that don't seem to make sense. Effective generalists react to that by first understanding why this odd behavior is the way it is, because there's usually a reason, indeed a good reason considering its context.

Expert generalists often find themselves in unfamiliar territory—be it a new software stack, a new domain, or a new role. Rather than chasing exhaustive detail from day one, they cultivate a rough, perceptive sense of what works in the new environment.

This also shows itself with new teams. When joining a new team, expert generalists tend to listen to the established ways that a team works, introducing different approaches thoughtfully. Even when coming in as leaders, they don't default to tearing up existing workflows in favor of those more familiar to them. Their curiosity extends to understanding why different people work in different ways, trying out unfamiliar working styles, then incorporating their experience to develop practices to improve from the current state.