In Praise of Generalists

In his book What’s Wrong With The World, GK Chesterton reminds us of the value of generalists. A generalist is someone who is sort of good at many different things. His primary example is the stay-at-home mom, who makes countless pretty-good meals, does a decent job keeping the family organized and clean, and is a decent influence in her home and community.

She is not a “specialist” — the word Chesterton uses in contrast to a generalist. A specialist would be a world-class chef or a professional home organizer or a children’s librarian. But because her efforts are divided across such a broad spectrum of abilities, the mom excels mainly at being herself and doing the things that her people need. Her good influence is narrow (she serves a small number of people) but broad (she performs a wide array of duties).

Our culture undervalues generalists.

Unfortunately, the advent of social media has brought about pressure like never before to be a specialist in a broad range of areas. The average person logs into Instagram and sees an array of delicious, healthy meals, beautifully decorated homes, children in embroidered clothing with perfect hair — all made possible by the woman behind the camera, dressed in the latest trend, and sporting perfectly applied makeup.

What the pictures don’t say is that these images are mostly brought about by specialists! The person is excelling in that area at the expense of other areas. No one can be a specialist in that many things. It’s not possible. Your travel blogger Instagram friend, though she appears to do it all by herself, is most likely supported by a small army of specialists: a marketer, an assistant, a hairdresser, a manager, and an editor.

Beyond recognizing the false idea of the specialist-in-all-areas-of-life, let’s think about the value of the generalist. No one can do what the generalist does in his particular area of influence. While his skill set seems replaceable—someone else could read that story to that child or show up to serve in that volunteer slot at church —no one can do it with that particular personality, with those particular people. Even when it seems like someone else could do it, the generalist brings tremendous value just by being himself and filling the role.

What does a generalist do in a friend group or local church community? He brings the snacks for his small group, not apologizing that it’s something he bought at the grocery store on the way. She supplies a meal for a person in need and is not ashamed that it’s a gift card to a local restaurant instead of a home-cooked three-course feast. She gives somebody a ride home. He shows up at a kid’s birthday party and helps clean up when it’s over.

None of the things I’ve listed above is amazing. None of them shows great skill or ability in a particular area. But each task brings value to the community it serves. And that is the material point — being a generalist means you are a specialist at being where you are. You bring value to the people you’ve been planted alongside.

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Kelly Keller

Kelly Keller is the managing editor of Story Warren. She has her BS in Elementary Education from Messiah University and has taught various ages, but her favorite was worldview and literature with high school students. The “gap” in her resume is actually a window of eighteen years of homeschooling, which she recommends as an effective, though demanding, way of expanding one’s home library.

When she’s not behind her laptop, Kelly enjoys live music, baseball, reading great books, and traveling with her husband, David. Kelly hails from beautiful snowy New England, but after nearly two decades in North Carolina, she feels right at home.

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