Depth or Breadth?

Grow one thing in detail, or grow many things?

This week I made a mental review of the topics we’ve covered so far here at Timely Insights. One thing I noticed is that while we have a fairly broad mission statement – “Devoted to exploring the nature of human life in our times” – there are some topics that we’ve come back to again and again, exploring them deeper.

This got me thinking about depth vs. breadth … specialist vs. generalist … a zoom lens vs. a wide angle.

Each outlook has its merits, but is one better than the other?

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A breadth of knowledge is essential…

By having a wide scope of ideas, you’re free to use the best idea for the present situation, you’re more willing to consider new ideas, and you may find inspiration in one domain from knowledge in another.

Depth of knowledge is essential…

By having a deep understanding of one idea, you’re able to really understand the topic, can extend that idea to further levels, and have a much better chance of applying that knowledge successfully.

Tim Sanders says you need depth

I’m currently reading, “Love is the Killer App”, by Tim Sanders, and one of the ideas he’s promoting is that everyone should read more books. That a book contains more in-depth knowledge. (And that a magazine article is more like a snack than a meal – good for something in between meals, but not sufficient to sustain you)

I respect his sentiment, but I’m convinced we need both. (And yes, you can expect a book review in the next few weeks as well;-)

Not my first writing on this topic

You see, six years ago I offered a bit of “fun” writing to ;Login: the print publication for Usenix. The topic – Is it better for systems administrators to specialize, or remain generalists? (you can read it here – it covers the system administration field, but is light enough for anyone to read)

Expanding in all directions

There’s no reason to limit yourself – if today you extend your knowledge by learning about one particular thing in greater detail, that’s terrific. If tomorrow you learn about something you’ve never been exposed to, that’s great.

Some times you’ll be growing wider, and other times deeper.

And that’s probably a better lesson – always keep growing and learning.

A much better use of time than trying to figure out if it’s better to be a specialist or a generalist.