To Earn More Money, Don’t Be A Generalist

by Ed

If you were me, I’m pretty sure you would have read Robert Kiyosaki’s books. Some love the man, others hated him. If you read his occasional articles on Yahoo Finance, check out the comments section and you’ll know what I mean. Although there are some thought provoking ideas in his book and articles, on many occasions he slams certain investments like mutual funds but doesn’t offer an viable alternative. On one audio tape I listened to, he advises the listening public to “be a generalist, don’t be a specialist”. This goes against the grain of what the job market wants. The rational against being a specialist is, in times of down turns or changes in any industry, a specialist will find himself or herself so highly specialized that they could not get an equivalent paying job else where. To justify his advice, Kiyosaki used the example where a buddy of his, a qualified pilot, finds himself flying cargo when airlines are over staffed. This means less pay, and poor Joe can’t find alternative work since he specialized as a pilot. Like I said, Kiyosaki is good at getting attention by going against common thinking. I don’t have a bone to pick with him, but logically you and I know, a specialist doctor will earn more money than a GP doctor, professional top level sportsmen will earn more than just a average sportsmen. And off course, a CEO earn more than the average manager, although work wise, it is still management work. If don’t agree, then think about people like Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher, Jack Welsh. Common sense will tell you that if you are a top level engineer, accountant, musician or even a mechanic, that if you are really good at that one thing, there will be a lot more opportunities than if you were just average at everything.

If you still think Kiyosaki is right, then consider this. Ezra Zuckerman, a professor at MITâ€™s Sloan School of Management, has the research to prove it! In his study of typecasting in Hollywood entitled â€œRobust Identities or Nonentities ,â€ Zuckerman found that specialization leads to longer, more productive careers. Let’s face it. Generalist is the label for a career that will die.

In my earlier article about personality types, you’ll notice that some people are just not suited to a particular type of work. If that’s true, then how can you be good a so many things at the same time. You just don’t have the focus to be top level at every area. The Pentathlon, where an athelete has to be good if five sporting events is a good example. He has to be good at all five disciplines, but a specialist sportsmen who concentrate on just one sport will beat the pentathlete at that one particular sport.

So common sense will tell you if you want to earn more money, then specialize and take Kiyosaki’s advice with a tinge of salt.