SKILL STACKS > SKILLS
Storytime:
My talent search company once placed a Design Director at a highly influential fashion brand.
There were 5 semi-finalists, all of them insanely impressive, all with similar world class backgrounds. Based on interviews alone, it was a 5-way tie.
But when they each performed a sample project, everything changed.
One of the 5, we’ll call him Phillip, submitted a project that was the clear winner. It wasn’t just 10% better — it was 10x better.
It was so good that it changed the whole playing field and created a new problem — if Phillip didn’t take the job, then what? The runners-up now paled in comparison.
My team and I huddled up and asked each other — why was Phillip’s project so much better? What was different about him, that we might have identified from the beginning?
The answer was easy: In between his tenures at traditional corporations, Phillip had also run his own brand. This taught him how to take risks, manage things outside of his direct control, and most importantly, understand the jobs adjacent to his own.
His ideas were more holistic, because he wasn’t just a designer, handing off designs to whoever was in the silo next to him. He was a product creator, start to finish.
Nearly 100% of our clients, when hiring a key leadership role, cite “scrappy / self starting / entrepreneurial” as a top criteria.
We are in the age of the generalist. Skill stacks > skills.
“Specialization is for insects.” - Naval
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Love this, thanks for sharing.
Unleashing Growth for Motivated SMBs in 90 Days | Former Frito-Lay, Starbucks, Reebok | Adjunct Professor | Competitive Ultra-Distance Athlete (Retired)
3moRange
Transforming the world's most important ideas into brands that matter.
3moThe intersection between creativity, strategy, and context is where successful business happens. Too often, top stakeholders (creative agencies, advisory firms, and internal ops) are rent-seekers fighting for the C-Suite’s attention and wallet. Absent generalists in key leadership roles who can cut through this smartly, nothing good gets made.
Brand & Digital Director | Fashion, Luxury, Streetwear | Portland
3mocombo multipliers are real
Collaborations, Special Projects, and Lab Merchandising at Lululemon | Ex: Adidas, VF Corp, Levi’s, Quiksilver
3moThere’s an interesting episode of Adam Grant’s podcast with Bob Sutton that mentions the benefits of generalists as leaders.