A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
—Robert Heinlein
This quote from the sci-fi classic Time Enough for Love has always stuck with me. I’ve returned to it often as I’ve remained a generalist in a world that increasingly pushes toward specialization. I came up as a designer but I’ve never had much interest in staying in the design lane.
At Etsy, we believed in intentionally blurry lines between product, design, and engineering. As a leader, I’ve embraced that philosophy and encouraged people on my teams to stretch outside their disciplines to become better collaborators. A designer who can write code better understands engineering constraints; one who can dig into metrics better understands the business. Deep expertise and broad collaboration matter more than rigidly defined roles.
Now AI is blurring those boundaries even further. As execution gets easier across disciplines, understanding how the pieces fit together and having the judgment to make sound decisions becomes even more valuable.
Still working on how to conn a ship.