Polymaths in a Specialists World
If you are a person who loves to learn new things (most neurodivergent folks are, especially on the ADHD side of things), then you may relate to what I’m about to describe:
You have not spent more than a year to two in a job.
You have a hard time explaining past job duties concisely, since you wore so many hats.
You have effectively touched every aspect of the business in most of the jobs you have had in the past.
Finding what you want to be your “career” can be tough.
You struggle with quantifying what you have done in past positions, you often invented your own metrics and bosses trusted you to do so.
Does any of that sound familiar? You might just be a polymath, a.k.a. a generalist. We live in a world that prioritizes expertise in a specific field (specialization) over a good generalist knowledge. People often see generalists as flighty and not willing to commit to a specific study, when for many people it’s just a love and desire to learn new things that keeps them moving around.
Some of my best jobs are ones where I have done everything from event planning to accounting (office manager), or when I did everything from tutoring to decorating (paraeducator). I love to learn a new skill, and can spin up to at least proficient in a week or two. The best job work-wise that I’ve ever had was for a major internet company where I would be assigned 4-10 different projects to do a certain amount of hours on each week. It was self-guided, you were expected to learn what you needed to from company wikis, and by the end of the week your work was done and you either stayed on it (if there was more to do) or moved on to new things (if the client was finished). It embraced my love of learning and growth mindset.
So often we are told that unless we specialize we aren’t learning, but I would like to challenge that mentality with this: Do you want employees who can do just about anything if you give them a few days to learn how, or an employee that can do one thing better than anyone? If you are looking for a surgeon, by all means go with that specialist! However, if you want someone to write code, advertise, or work in your office; maybe give a generalist a chance. A generalist can see the system as a whole and where there may be room for improvements. They will be an invaluable resource to your team.
Fellow neurodivergent folks (and those of you who aren’t but relate), embrace your polymath ways and wear your generalist badge with pride! Not everyone can spin up a new skill in a week, and it is far more valuable that “multi-tasking.”
