𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 (𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀)

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱

Michelle Higa Fox's recent article 'It's Nice That' hit different. Not because it revealed something new, but because it's refreshing to know there are others who share this outlook. The future belongs to the generalist.

For 20 years, I've heard "𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦"—usually with a disapproving tone. What they're missing is the full quote: "𝘈 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦."

https://lnkd.in/ekt56pwK

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻

Late teens, reading Asimov's Foundation and Day of the Triffids. Foundation showed how overspecialization led to societal collapse. Coker in Day of the Triffids introduced parallel learning: developing multiple competencies simultaneously rather than linear progression in one field.

Then came GCSEs and A-levels. Pick subjects you've never tried. Commit to a narrow path. Specialize at university. Specialize again in your career.

It felt backwards. Why narrow before you've experienced the options?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗫𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲

I'm a Xennial—born between Gen X and Millennials. My formative years: Teletext, 4 TV channels, VCR, floppy disks. By adulthood: Web 2.0, mobile phones, MP3s, digital everything.

Constant adaptation. Learning to integrate old and new systems, analog and digital thinking. That forced adaptability became a superpower.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿

I refused to pick one thing. Motion graphics, 3D CGI, brand systems, emerging tech across agency work, fintech, Web3, automotive, AI events.

Career advisors said: "Pick one thing and be the best at it." The implication was always there: scattered, unfocused, uncommitted.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Michelle's article. Buck's 2026 predictions about AI-augmented generalists. The pattern is clear:

Specialists doing one thing deeply are most vulnerable to AI automation. Generalists who understand systems, integration, and how things connect—they're the ones AI elevates rather than replaces.

Integration is the new specialization.

𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁

The polymaths, generalists, renaissance thinkers, Swiss Army knives—we're the ones best positioned for the AI era. Not because we're smarter, but because adopting gen-AI doesn't feel like a massive leap for us.

It's just another day. Another system to integrate. Another bridge to build between old and new.

Turns out, we weren't scattered. We were just early.