Whenever I'm asked this, I always cringe a little bit. Firstly, because I think it's the most boring way in the world to start a conversation, but mostly because my easy answer, "I'm a designer", just doesn't seem to cover it.
Sure, at the core of my "work" is an expertise in design thinking and principles, and I'd admit to being an expert accordingly. Yet more and more, I'm convinced it's the skills I layer on top of that foundation that bring the real value to my clients. I write a lot. I'm a forever student of interiors, music, art, fashion, travel, books. I tend to "get people". I love finding surprising connections between disparate things. I have lots of ideas and I never take the bad ones personally. It's the combination of ALL of these things that make me a good designer.
For the last several decades, we've become obsessed with specialization. Youth sports is an example –kids traveling year-round on competitive teams by age 8, only to be injured and burnt out by the time they reach high school. Business is no different. Currently, I'm bombarded by digital ads from niche experts who will teach me how to create an online course selling online courses to others wanting to create an online course. Don't worry, I couldn't follow that either.
The problem with being a niche expert is that by focussing so squarely on your area of expertise, you can't help but overlook, or even undervalue, skills and strategies outside your zone.
For example, take Company A - a startup with a big idea. They know they need creative help, but who to turn to first? A product designer will surely tell them the product has to be superior to the competition. A brand strategy firm will labor over the perfect messaging, visuals and audience personas. A PR firm will instinctively explain how the right launch can make or break a new product. A digital firm will push the importance of an omni channel strategy. All of these things are valid, and very important, but here's the problem - Company A can't possibly engage with each of these experts (unless they have lots and lots of time and money to burn, and trust me that is never the case). What Company A needs first is some help navigating it all, and maybe even charting a course that diverges from the rigid ones "TM'd" by the niche experts.
"Generalists are very good at introducing strangers to one another. Generalists are keen observers and natural matchmakers. They explore possibilities (in the broadest sense), connect the dots, distill complex information down to relevant summary, and remind us of context and even humanity. For these reasons and others, generalists are in increasingly high demand in today’s companies, non-profit organizations, universities, governments, and institutions." creativegeneralist.com
So while I certainly consider myself an expert at a few things, I know the most valuable thing I bring to my clients is my experience across a broad range of disciplines. So for now, until I'm proven wrong, I'm embracing my inner generalist. It's 2020 after all, all bets are off.
