1. Specialization is more rewarding but comes at the cost of higher risk. Knowing one thing well is akin to putting all your eggs in one basket. You will either make a huge salary or be unemployed.
2. Generalization is less rewarding but less risky. It makes you more employable because it increases employment options. But it limits you to average pay.
3. The volatility of the modern economy necessitates the generalist approach in much the same way you need to diversify your investments.
4. It is my personal belief that both the generalist and the specialist will come out at the same place in the end though the specialist will have taken a much wilder economic ride. The key for generalists is to not envy the specialists during the fat years. It always reverts to the mean.
What in God's name are you doing buying a $100,000 house when you only make $1,350 a month?!?!? I'm 24 and make over twice that and could never imagine thinking I could afford any kind of house.
It would work because someone else would have the debt. The same as I have no debt but others around me do. There are plenty of other countries that would still be suckered into paying interest. It would work even better because it would free up money for the private sector to borrow instead of a hog of the Federal government feeding from its own trough.
Hmmm... doesn't work... you pay off the debt and you will suck all the money out of the economy.. It is only 'with debt' that money gets created in the current system.. Pick up Web of Debt (book) or watch some videos here: http://www.economicstability.org/joes-monetary-literacy-course you will definitely have your eyes opened.. For good and for bad..
When they first created the Dubai World project I sat there and laughed that anyone would spend millions or tens of millions of dollars to live there. Having seen this idea repeated several times before, Las Vegas, Miami, etc. each time to initial fanfare and predictions of sell-outs, it was obvious it was just a matter of time before the economics caught up with a project like this. The problem with building super expensive real estate in places that have no real economy (I think that only 6% of Dubai's GDP is oil) is that it relies on the super rich from other places to keep values up. When that stops, like Las Vegas for instance, the plunge is incredible.
The amount of debt for Dubai World pales in comparison to the U.S. debt which surpassed $12 Trillion. Dubai World's debt is a mere 0.5% of our national debt. That debt is going to make the quality of life in the U.S. much lower than it has been for the rest of our lifetimes. While we think that the Dubai project is crazy, we have loads of projects, masked by a big guarantor, the U.S. government, which are far worse ideas. At least they were making something in Dubai.
There is still a huge gap between what people are currently spending and what they need to spend. That gap is closing but those manufacturers and retailers that are dependent on discretionary spending are seeing a huge outflow of dollars and their only ability is to cut prices and steal market share. Its a downward spiral. If you are in great financial shape and want to buy stuff, it is truly the Golden Age of the Consumer, but if like the Dubai World guys, if you borrowed up to your eyeballs, every day is another painful day.
Six months from now, looking back on Black Friday, I will be pondering the same thing. Perhaps America's financial troubles could have been prevented. But more importantly they can be fixed. Obviously the first thing to do is to stop borrowing money to give away as tax credits for houses and cars. Consider what can be cut from every appropriation and eliminate unnecessary programs. Enforce this with a balanced budget amendment and a line item veto. In an economy as big as ours it should not be hard to balance the budget.
It is so sad that we have the power to deal with our situation but for whatever reason it is not done. Granted, it doesn't have to be done the way I have outlined but action should be taken. Now.
I feel it captures a very important point ~ whilst it is brilliant to be a specialist in any given field, a specialist who has the capability to expand beyond their abilities by generalizing opens up infinite possibilities to progress to greater heights within their specialist area.
You could say a generalizing specialist is a true specialist. One who is open to new ways of excelling.
I think a lot of this depends on your goals and what you want to accomplish. The post made it clear that a house as an investment may not be as good of an idea as most people think, but the fact that you own the house wasn't really taken into consideration.
If your goal is to invest lots of money and strive for the best return possible, and are willing to live your life subject to the sometimes unreasonable whims of a landlord, then renting may be the way to go.
If you're more concerned with owning your own place and doing whatever you want with it, then renting probably isn't for you. Of course, there are so many other things to consider, such as how big your family is, where you want to raise your kids, the level of privacy afforded by renting an apartment vs. owning a home... it all depends on the situation and what you're goal is.
If I'm trying to decide between two similarly priced items, such as a television or a computer, and one of them has a rebate, I go for the one that has the rebate.
This is really the only manner in which I would use a rebate, because if I wasn't looking to buy the item anyway, the rebate won't magically change my mind.
Interesting debate, in my experience it is always been better to specialize. However, you do make a good argument in terms of generalizing.
My guess is that your OK with specializing as you keep your head out of the books long enough to know that you may at some point need to branch out? Case in point the Postal Service seems to be a rapidly declining field.
Just don't hold onto a loser and you should be fine.
As you climb up the corporate ladder the more generalized you must become and the less specialization is useful or even desirable. As an executive, I would pretty much useless at most of the tasks performed by my company, but I need to know enough about a wide range of topics critical to the running of the company.
In that sense, an executive is like an entrepreneur, I suppose. If you have ambitions in the general management direction, you must have specialized knowledge to fulfill your current role, but must also work on developing your general understanding of business topics.
I USE HAIRSPRAY ALL THE TIME FOR INK REMOVER BEFORE I WAS. I HAVE A TEENAGE SON THAT GETS BORED IN SCHOOL AND PLAYS WITH PENS THUS INK STAINS. IT WORKS EVERY TIME.
Well actually I think by now if you have figured the answer then its fine. Or else let me tell you how you are getting them for so cheap. Well actually some chinese group hacked the code of itunes last year or so and have created a key generator. So they have been selling the codes directly from internet. If you ask them about the card then they will not give you one.
But one more thing, there are chances of your account getting blocked using those codes. Right now if you know the correct source you can get a $200 worth gift card for $3. I am not kidding but its true. Well I don't want to specify more on this because its completely illegal and also is not recommended because there are chances of your account getting blocked. At times you can fly under the radar and get benefited by this but at times you may loose your account.
I don't think for the most part that you can make that decision about specializing vs. being a generalist except in a few narrowly-defined fields. And It's ALWAYS better to know a lot - knowledge is power, after all! With the rapid rate of social change we face nowadays, it's always better to be able to grow & shift with the culture we live in. It's all according to where your life takes you.
Absolutely love the picture at the beginning of the post Brandon. Was it meant to be quicksand?
The so called property gurus dream up numbers and push them around so heavily people are lulled into believing they're correct.
For example, Your house will double in value every ten years. Most people go WOW failing to realise that in reality this is a lousy 7% growth which is not far above the cost of money.
however for so many people something is better than nothing and when you spend every cent you have and can't save, a house can be a form of compulsory saving.
Maybe the dream was designed by the banks to have something solid to lend against because as house prices increase the banks get a volume increase in their business by offering more debt to support living beyond your means
Great discussion! I believe knowing a lot about various areas in your field is vastly preferable than specializing. As was commented above, the key to this approach is keeping up with news and information in all these areas and being able to draw the valuable connections between how this information interacts.
It can be difficult and is not for the weak - you must be dedicated to your art in order to succeed in this approach.
More importantly, I believe that as a "life" choice its a healthier, more balanced approach in general. I think that author Robert A. Heinlein had it right when he said:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects"
Like my father, I find myself knowing a lot about a few things but with a healthy curiosity so that I know enough about a lot of other things—enough that other people often come to me for advice, and enough that I know where to point them (or myself) in the right direction to learn more.
I also have a wide ranging employment background, from being a nurse's aide to being a restaurant manager at McDonald's to working on college recruitment and retention of Native American students, I sometimes I feel like I've somehow serendipitously landed in several jobs since very few are related, but as my last supervisor pointed out—she chose me as her Executive Assistant based on my wide range of experiences.
Like Nora, my administrative position really opened a lot of doors for me both in terms of being organized and making things run smoothly, but also in terms of networking—I met and developed relationships with people I otherwise never would have met from CEOs to venture capitalists to bestselling authors.
I did not have a background in the technical skill set I needed to do the job I currently have as a website content editor ( a job I love, btw), but one of my contacts had recommended me for the job and with organization I was able to take night classes and otherwise learn on my own the technical skills I needed to do the job.
So, long story short, like Heron I feel that being a generalist has worked well for me and it really is more about finding the commonalities across several fields and disciplines—so I guess that interdisciplinary liberal arts degree really did pay off.
I can not imagine people having unused gift cards. Everytime I receive a gift card, I have always been so excited about it that I use it immediately. I love all of your ideas and hope to start a gift exchanging tradition with my family this year. We've never done that, but my family has also never been very big on gift giving either. We've always understood the importance of the holiday and just spending quality time with each other and appreciating it.
I will be de-cluttering my house this year to find things to re-gift.
1. Specialization is more rewarding but comes at the cost of higher risk. Knowing one thing well is akin to putting all your eggs in one basket. You will either make a huge salary or be unemployed.
2. Generalization is less rewarding but less risky. It makes you more employable because it increases employment options. But it limits you to average pay.
3. The volatility of the modern economy necessitates the generalist approach in much the same way you need to diversify your investments.
4. It is my personal belief that both the generalist and the specialist will come out at the same place in the end though the specialist will have taken a much wilder economic ride. The key for generalists is to not envy the specialists during the fat years. It always reverts to the mean.
C.
What in God's name are you doing buying a $100,000 house when you only make $1,350 a month?!?!? I'm 24 and make over twice that and could never imagine thinking I could afford any kind of house.
It would work because someone else would have the debt. The same as I have no debt but others around me do. There are plenty of other countries that would still be suckered into paying interest. It would work even better because it would free up money for the private sector to borrow instead of a hog of the Federal government feeding from its own trough.
Do not fear, it will never happen.
I think another debt moratorium would be placed, and IMF and the Word Bank will absorb it. That means, innocent nations will share the burden as well.
I've mistakingly used Amozon in my URL and now I to reset my URL.
Being a newbee I would appecate someone help.
Hmmm... doesn't work... you pay off the debt and you will suck all the money out of the economy.. It is only 'with debt' that money gets created in the current system.. Pick up Web of Debt (book) or watch some videos here: http://www.economicstability.org/joes-monetary-literacy-course you will definitely have your eyes opened.. For good and for bad..
When they first created the Dubai World project I sat there and laughed that anyone would spend millions or tens of millions of dollars to live there. Having seen this idea repeated several times before, Las Vegas, Miami, etc. each time to initial fanfare and predictions of sell-outs, it was obvious it was just a matter of time before the economics caught up with a project like this. The problem with building super expensive real estate in places that have no real economy (I think that only 6% of Dubai's GDP is oil) is that it relies on the super rich from other places to keep values up. When that stops, like Las Vegas for instance, the plunge is incredible.
The amount of debt for Dubai World pales in comparison to the U.S. debt which surpassed $12 Trillion. Dubai World's debt is a mere 0.5% of our national debt. That debt is going to make the quality of life in the U.S. much lower than it has been for the rest of our lifetimes. While we think that the Dubai project is crazy, we have loads of projects, masked by a big guarantor, the U.S. government, which are far worse ideas. At least they were making something in Dubai.
All the more reason to live cheaply. If you want to know more about the debt, read :12 Trillion Reasons to Live Cheaply Today
There is still a huge gap between what people are currently spending and what they need to spend. That gap is closing but those manufacturers and retailers that are dependent on discretionary spending are seeing a huge outflow of dollars and their only ability is to cut prices and steal market share. Its a downward spiral. If you are in great financial shape and want to buy stuff, it is truly the Golden Age of the Consumer, but if like the Dubai World guys, if you borrowed up to your eyeballs, every day is another painful day.
Live Cheap
Six months from now, looking back on Black Friday, I will be pondering the same thing. Perhaps America's financial troubles could have been prevented. But more importantly they can be fixed. Obviously the first thing to do is to stop borrowing money to give away as tax credits for houses and cars. Consider what can be cut from every appropriation and eliminate unnecessary programs. Enforce this with a balanced budget amendment and a line item veto. In an economy as big as ours it should not be hard to balance the budget.
Next, tackle the debt by treating it like a 30 year mortgage. With a 3% loan the current monthly repayment would be $51 billion. Here are some other figures and payment schedules: http://www.rickety.us/2009/09/u-s-government-debt-as-a-mortgage/
It is so sad that we have the power to deal with our situation but for whatever reason it is not done. Granted, it doesn't have to be done the way I have outlined but action should be taken. Now.
I am trying to download the gift box link but was unsuccessful. Do you have the directions?
Wonderful article!
I feel it captures a very important point ~ whilst it is brilliant to be a specialist in any given field, a specialist who has the capability to expand beyond their abilities by generalizing opens up infinite possibilities to progress to greater heights within their specialist area.
You could say a generalizing specialist is a true specialist. One who is open to new ways of excelling.
Thank you very much for including my article in your weekly round-up!
I think a lot of this depends on your goals and what you want to accomplish. The post made it clear that a house as an investment may not be as good of an idea as most people think, but the fact that you own the house wasn't really taken into consideration.
If your goal is to invest lots of money and strive for the best return possible, and are willing to live your life subject to the sometimes unreasonable whims of a landlord, then renting may be the way to go.
If you're more concerned with owning your own place and doing whatever you want with it, then renting probably isn't for you. Of course, there are so many other things to consider, such as how big your family is, where you want to raise your kids, the level of privacy afforded by renting an apartment vs. owning a home... it all depends on the situation and what you're goal is.
Thanks for including my post in your roundup.
If I'm trying to decide between two similarly priced items, such as a television or a computer, and one of them has a rebate, I go for the one that has the rebate.
This is really the only manner in which I would use a rebate, because if I wasn't looking to buy the item anyway, the rebate won't magically change my mind.
Interesting debate, in my experience it is always been better to specialize. However, you do make a good argument in terms of generalizing.
My guess is that your OK with specializing as you keep your head out of the books long enough to know that you may at some point need to branch out? Case in point the Postal Service seems to be a rapidly declining field.
Just don't hold onto a loser and you should be fine.
As you climb up the corporate ladder the more generalized you must become and the less specialization is useful or even desirable. As an executive, I would pretty much useless at most of the tasks performed by my company, but I need to know enough about a wide range of topics critical to the running of the company.
In that sense, an executive is like an entrepreneur, I suppose. If you have ambitions in the general management direction, you must have specialized knowledge to fulfill your current role, but must also work on developing your general understanding of business topics.
anyone no the region ccode for the sony dvp sr200p the ones ive found dont work
I USE HAIRSPRAY ALL THE TIME FOR INK REMOVER BEFORE I WAS. I HAVE A TEENAGE SON THAT GETS BORED IN SCHOOL AND PLAYS WITH PENS THUS INK STAINS. IT WORKS EVERY TIME.
Well actually I think by now if you have figured the answer then its fine. Or else let me tell you how you are getting them for so cheap. Well actually some chinese group hacked the code of itunes last year or so and have created a key generator. So they have been selling the codes directly from internet. If you ask them about the card then they will not give you one.
But one more thing, there are chances of your account getting blocked using those codes. Right now if you know the correct source you can get a $200 worth gift card for $3. I am not kidding but its true. Well I don't want to specify more on this because its completely illegal and also is not recommended because there are chances of your account getting blocked. At times you can fly under the radar and get benefited by this but at times you may loose your account.
I don't think for the most part that you can make that decision about specializing vs. being a generalist except in a few narrowly-defined fields. And It's ALWAYS better to know a lot - knowledge is power, after all! With the rapid rate of social change we face nowadays, it's always better to be able to grow & shift with the culture we live in. It's all according to where your life takes you.
Absolutely love the picture at the beginning of the post Brandon. Was it meant to be quicksand?
The so called property gurus dream up numbers and push them around so heavily people are lulled into believing they're correct.
For example, Your house will double in value every ten years. Most people go WOW failing to realise that in reality this is a lousy 7% growth which is not far above the cost of money.
however for so many people something is better than nothing and when you spend every cent you have and can't save, a house can be a form of compulsory saving.
Maybe the dream was designed by the banks to have something solid to lend against because as house prices increase the banks get a volume increase in their business by offering more debt to support living beyond your means
I just love Skype. One of my businesses survives on it and those people who haven't used it don't know just what it can do for your business.
Great discussion! I believe knowing a lot about various areas in your field is vastly preferable than specializing. As was commented above, the key to this approach is keeping up with news and information in all these areas and being able to draw the valuable connections between how this information interacts.
It can be difficult and is not for the weak - you must be dedicated to your art in order to succeed in this approach.
More importantly, I believe that as a "life" choice its a healthier, more balanced approach in general. I think that author Robert A. Heinlein had it right when he said:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects"
Like my father, I find myself knowing a lot about a few things but with a healthy curiosity so that I know enough about a lot of other things—enough that other people often come to me for advice, and enough that I know where to point them (or myself) in the right direction to learn more.
I also have a wide ranging employment background, from being a nurse's aide to being a restaurant manager at McDonald's to working on college recruitment and retention of Native American students, I sometimes I feel like I've somehow serendipitously landed in several jobs since very few are related, but as my last supervisor pointed out—she chose me as her Executive Assistant based on my wide range of experiences.
Like Nora, my administrative position really opened a lot of doors for me both in terms of being organized and making things run smoothly, but also in terms of networking—I met and developed relationships with people I otherwise never would have met from CEOs to venture capitalists to bestselling authors.
I did not have a background in the technical skill set I needed to do the job I currently have as a website content editor ( a job I love, btw), but one of my contacts had recommended me for the job and with organization I was able to take night classes and otherwise learn on my own the technical skills I needed to do the job.
So, long story short, like Heron I feel that being a generalist has worked well for me and it really is more about finding the commonalities across several fields and disciplines—so I guess that interdisciplinary liberal arts degree really did pay off.
I can not imagine people having unused gift cards. Everytime I receive a gift card, I have always been so excited about it that I use it immediately. I love all of your ideas and hope to start a gift exchanging tradition with my family this year. We've never done that, but my family has also never been very big on gift giving either. We've always understood the importance of the holiday and just spending quality time with each other and appreciating it.
I will be de-cluttering my house this year to find things to re-gift.