A vote for the specialised Generalist

nospam@example.com (Timo Geusch) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:12:44 +0100

There is an expression in German – calling someone a Fachidiot. I don’t think it translates very well into English as there isn’t an expression that conveys the same notion. Idiot savant is getting close, though. What the German word describes is a person who knows everything about very little.

While the opposite – knowing a little about everything - isn’t really desirable either, the Fachidiot type programmer seems to be highly prized by employers. From a business perspective this is understandable. The programmer who already knows everything about a very small field[1] can really hit the ground running, to quote one of my least favourite recruiter-speak. Not only can the hit the ground running, they’re very likely to run into the right direction. Obviously this is a good thing because it saves on training expenses. Given that there are plenty of employers out there who seem to view training as something they grudgingly have to pay for to stop their programmers from legging it at the first opportunity. But I digress.

However, from a career perspective, is being the Fachidiot type programmer really desirable? I doubt it, for several reasons.

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A vote for the specialised Generalist