Deep Generalism

When I started ALL IN in April of 2021, I knew the community had to stand on 3 pillars:

1. Optionality
2. Deep generalism
3. Personal growth = professional growth

You see, most marketers get the “jack of all trades” quote completely wrong, and it’s hurting their careers…

Most people think the full quote is “jack of all trades, master of none.”

And then use that as justification for specialization.

Only get good at SEO.

Or PPC.

Or email.

But the actual quote is:

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

The marketers winning right now, both in their daily work and in this job market, are the deep generalists.

They’re scrappy marketers who understand not only every marketing channel and media but every function and team within their company.

If there was ever a time to invest in deepening your skill set, that time is now.

I love it when people comment on my posts. And this one got a lot.

But people kept wanting to debate a specialist vs. a generalist.

And maybe that’s because it’s hard to explain deep generalism in a post.

A deep generalist is as far removed from a generalist as they are a specialist.

Although I don’t want to, we have to go back to 2020 to understand deep generalism.

When I sent out those first 100 or so invites to the community, we were a year removed from our careers being completed fucking derailed by health and economic uncertainty.

Everything changed.

The rules.

Winning.

Losing.

Data.

Expectations.

All new.

I watched 55-year-old executives and 25-year-old junior marketers fall flat on their faces for the exact same reason.

They couldn’t adapt.

They didn’t have the range required to meet the times head on.

Those that thrived were able to do four things:

1. analyze and synthesize information
2. make connections
3. converse about those connections
4. turn connections into new skills

I used to think I was a bit… unhinged in how I looked for content ideas for Growth Sprints clients.

I often joke, “If there’s a place where recordings and PDFs go to die, I want to live there.”

I’d read everything I could.

Listen to it.

Watch it.

Talk to the sales, success, and support teams (the 3S strategy, as I’ve come to call it).

Then, I read a story about David Ogilvy and how he came up with one of his most famous advertisements of all time:

Instead of Don Drapering his way to advertising genius, Ogilvy took a different approach.

When he won the prestigious Rolls-Royce account, he spent 3 weeks (THREE WEEKS!) reading technical manuals.

In there, he found a throwaway line that would become the hallmark of their campaign and would be copied for generations:

“At sixty miles an hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock.”

Ogilvy was a deep generalist.

• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Connection
• Conversation
• New skill acquisition

Right now, the market is craving scrappy marketers with deep generalism across channels and functions.

But frankly, there’s a shortage.

In marketing, when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Too many of us became myopic and borderline religious about a specific tactic or channel.

Our cognitive biases too strong to risk becoming an amateur again.

Kobe Bryant told a story about a teammate giving him advice for guarding Michael Jordan.

My teammate said, whatever you do, don’t look Jordan in the eye.

Why wouldn’t I look Jordan in the eye?

My teammate didn’t understand, I’m that, too.

Don’t look me in the eye.

Deep generalists have teeth.

That’s why when you compete against them in marketing and business… you lose.

Unless you’re that, too.