Specialist vs Generalist vs Dilettante vs Polymath
Similarities, differences, and examples
Specialist - Generalist - Dilettante - Polymath
These are words are used commonly to describe people who excel at one or many fields, but they have different meanings.
The Specialist:
A specialist is someone who is knowledgeable about 1 field. Think of it like digging a hole. They dig deeper into the material and learn all the intricacies of the field.
We need specialists as much as polymaths.
Specialists know the nuances of the field extremely well. When we get deep into a field whether it’s the details of programming an AI or developing infrastructure or renewable energy, a specialist comes in handy with their knowledge of the details of a subject.
The Generalist: Broad Superficial Knowledge
The generalist is someone who is competent in several different fields or activities. They have broad knowledge of different fields and how they connect.
Generalist is usually used interchangeably with Polymath, but it implies superficial knowledge of different fields while a Polymath has deeper knowledge about different fields.
The Dilettante:
I call this the hobbyist. Someone who enjoys different interests for pleasure but doesn’t create value for others as much. They don’t have a grasp of the fundamentals or only have surface knowledge.
They causally dabble in the interest before moving on. There’s little to no discipline, consistency, or focus on their learning.
There’s nothing wrong with being a dilettante. If you enjoy what you do, bouncing between interests, and picking up skills, then that’s great!
The Polymath:
A polymath is someone who learns across domains with specialized knowledge in all of them.
There are different ways to be a polymath, but I like following the guideline of periodic-specialist and long-term generalist which can be seen in the image below.
If you’re building a business, you’ll need to specialize for a while to learn marketing, sales, customer service, business planning, budgeting, but your long-term goal is building a sustainable business.