Favoring specialization over intelligence is exactly wrong, especially in high tech. The world is changing so fast across every industry and endeavor that it's a given the role for which you're hiring is going to change. Yesterday's widget will be obsolete tomorrow, and hiring a specialist in such a dynamic environment can backfire. A specialist brings an inherent bias to solving problems that spawns from the very expertise that is his putative advantage, and may be threatened by a new type of solution that requires new expertise. A smart generalist doesn't have bias, so is free to survey the wide range of solutions and gravitate to the best one. Eric Schmidt
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The idea that you can’t just hire anyone to do anything is complete nonsense. Whether it’s software development, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, etc. Everything can be outsourced, and most of the time it is. It’s just that companies don’t want to outsource everything, so they tend to specialize in particular areas.

Source: How Google Works

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  1. A mind set in its ways is wasted. Don't do it.
  2. Favoring specialization over intelligence is exactly wrong, especially in high tech. The world is changing so fast across every industry and endeavor that it's a given the role for which you're hiring is going to change. Yesterday's widget will be obsolete tomorrow, and hiring a...
  3. There is a mistake technical and scientific people make. We think that if we have made a clever and thoughtful argument, based on data and smart analysis, then people will change their minds. This isn't true. If yoy want to change people's behavior, you need...
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  5. If you can't tell someone how to think, then you have to learn to manage the environment where they think.
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