The T-shape mindset and skillset is fractal
It’s become commonly accepted wisdom that innovation requires T-shaped people. And I’ve come to appreciate more how the T-shaped pattern applies to both skillset and mindset.
Another thing I’ve come to appreciate is how being T-shaped is really a fractal sort of existence: Each stem of a T pivots to become a crossbar for a new T…each depth of specialization is a kind of generality in and of itself that generates new specialities. Someone with more time might visualize this better, but here’s a quick sketch of the recursion of specialization.
So, as an example, if we start with the marketing world as the crossbar, a specialization might be interactive marketing. Within an interactive marketing agency, there are disciplines from market research to information architecture to visual design to writing production code, and many more. Within disciplines like visual design, someone might specialize in identity work, or packaging, or environmental signage.
Looking at the complexity of even such simple examples, a flat 2D T-model seems simplistic - and in reality, if we could really visualize breadth, depth, and specialization it would be fuzzy and 3D, more like a DNA helix or linked buckyballs. However, for here and now, I’m happy with my 2D illustration.
There does come a point where further specialization reaches a point of diminishing returns - that point will vary depending on the market for that skillset and mindset…there are risks to becoming so specialized that flexibility is lost, risks when your own ‘T’ crossbar of broad skills is still remarkably esoteric. But the greater risk is letting skillsets and mindsets stagnate. As long as the fractal structure of your team’s Ts is growing and changing, innovation will incubate.
And finally, it’s not just people that follow the T-pattern. It’s organizations, too. More on that another time.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 at 9:56 pm and is filed under , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.