The days of siloed experts are gone. Today, more than ever, our complex world requires increased collaboration in cross-disciplinary teams to& ...
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quae similitudo in genere etiam humano apparet. At quicum ioca seria, ut dicitur, quicum arcana, quicum occulta omnia? Non minor, inquit, voluptas percipitur ex vilissimis rebus quam ex pretiosissimis. Octavio fuit, cum illam severitatem in eo filio adhibuit, quem in adoptionem D. Solum praeterea formosum, solum liberum, solum civem, stultost; Comprehensum, quod cognitum non habet? Videmusne ut pueri ne verberibus quidem a contemplandis rebus perquirendisque deterreantur? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Vitiosum est enim in dividendo partem in genere numerare. Quos nisi redarguimus, omnis virtus, omne decus, omnis vera laus deserenda est. Ita ne hoc quidem modo paria peccata sunt. Teneo, inquit, finem illi videri nihil dolere.
Innumerabilia dici possunt in hanc sententiam, sed non necesse est. Beatus autem esse in maximarum rerum timore nemo potest. Sed tamen enitar et, si minus multa mihi occurrent, non fugiam ista popularia. Sed eum qui audiebant, quoad poterant, defendebant sententiam suam.
Sed quoniam et advesperascit et mihi ad villam revertendum est, nunc quidem hactenus; Quod si ita se habeat, non possit beatam praestare vitam sapientia. Ait enim se, si uratur, Quam hoc suave! dicturum. Idemque diviserunt naturam hominis in animum et corpus. Sin laboramus, quis est, qui alienae modum statuat industriae? Quis animo aequo videt eum, quem inpure ac flagitiose putet vivere? Quicquid porro animo cernimus, id omne oritur a sensibus; Nunc omni virtuti vitium contrario nomine opponitur.
- Go deep with your expertise in chosen areas.
Go deep and develop expertise in your chosen field, c ...
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quorum altera prosunt, nocent altera. Quamquam haec quidem praeposita recte et reiecta dicere licebit. Quid enim me prohiberet Epicureum esse, si probarem, quae ille diceret? Id mihi magnum videtur. Tu vero, inquam, ducas licet, si sequetur; Ex ea difficultate illae fallaciloquae, ut ait Accius, malitiae natae sunt. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Qui non moveatur et offensione turpitudinis et comprobatione honestatis? Praeclare enim Plato: Beatum, cui etiam in senectute contigerit, ut sapientiam verasque opiniones assequi possit. Si qua in iis corrigere voluit, deteriora fecit.
Videamus animi partes, quarum est conspectus illustrior; Quae quo sunt excelsiores, eo dant clariora indicia naturae. Dicet pro me ipsa virtus nec dubitabit isti vestro beato M. Si quidem, inquit, tollerem, sed relinquo. Est autem officium, quod ita factum est, ut eius facti probabilis ratio reddi possit. Quid ergo attinet gloriose loqui, nisi constanter loquare? Quod ea non occurrentia fingunt, vincunt Aristonem; Nihil enim hoc differt.
Quasi vero, inquit, perpetua oratio rhetorum solum, non etiam philosophorum sit. Quis istud possit, inquit, negare? Negat enim summo bono afferre incrementum diem. Quo studio cum satiari non possint, omnium ceterarum rerum obliti níhil abiectum, nihil humile cogitant;
There have been several models that have built on the T-shaped metaphor. A Pi or ‘M’ shaped person, with two verticals or three verticals, describes the need to have more than one area of expertise. Similarly the V-shaped person with the beginnings of deeper, broader expertise. ‘X’ shaped people have also been suggested as a leadership model.
McKinsey recruitment.
McKinsey coined this term as the ‘T-shaped man’ (sic) as a framework for their recruitment during the 1980s.
IDEO and T-Shaped People
IDEO CEO Tim Brown has long advocated for T-shaped people and described how recruiting such people has driven innovation and complex problem-solving at IDEO.
Atlassian battle against ‘brilliant jerks’.
Atlassian has publicly argued against brilliant jerks who might be great at what they do but pay no attention to collaborating with, developing, or supporting those around them. So much so, they’ve enshrined into their performance management system.
T-shaped people is a useful mental model for development or recruitment and aligns well with Munger’s latticework and the purpose of ModelThinkers.
Use the following examples of connected and complementary models to weave T-shaped people into your broader latticework of mental models. Alternatively, discover your own connections by exploring the category list above.
Connected models:
- Munger’s Latticework: as Charles Munger said, “use the big ideas from the big disciplines’.
- Idea sex: to develop greater innovation.
Complementary models:
- Lean startup: when thinking about the ‘who’ is involved.
- Deliberate practice: in terms of developing soft skills or any expertise.
- Cialdini’s 6 Principles of persuasion: as a cue for potential soft skill development.
- Scrum: T-shaped people are crucial in cross-disciplinary teams.
McKinsey originally used the term ‘T-shaped man’ (sic) as a guide for internal recruitment in the 1980s and the term became further popularised by IDEO in the 90s. It has since become a popular model in agile software development.
Oops, That’s Members’ Only!
Fortunately, it only costs US$5/month to Join ModelThinkers and access everything so that you can rapidly discover, learn, and apply the world’s most powerful ideas.
ModelThinkers membership at a glance:
“Yeah, we hate pop ups too. But we wanted to let you know that, with ModelThinkers, we’re making it easier for you to adapt, innovate and create value. We hope you’ll join us and the growing community of ModelThinkers today.”