Why Specializing Too Soon Could Be Holding You Back

Marketing Shenanigans (#036)

I used to think the fastest way to success was to specialize immediately—until I realized that was why I kept hitting roadblocks. Trust me, I was the ambitious 22-year-old who wanted to be a CMO because I thought I had put in the work…

Here’s the truth: You can’t effectively specialize or lead anybody if you don’t understand how all the pieces fit together.

Think about it like this: If you dive straight into a specific skill without learning how the system works, you’re flying blind. Sure, you might measure your own success—but you won’t see how your work impacts the bigger picture.

Generalizing first changes everything.

When you generalize, you gain the knowledge to connect the dots. You learn how different pieces interact, what drives results, and how to navigate challenges. From there, you can pick the part of the process you love most and focus on mastering it.

This is why Chick-fil-A makes every franchise owner fry tenders, work the drive-thru, and mop floors before handing them the keys. They're not being cruel - they're building empathy and understanding from the ground up.

It's also why I make every marketing hotshot spend their first few weeks in customer service. And yes, I've heard every groan and "but I'm a strategist" excuse in the book. But here's the thing: how can you market a solution if you don't understand the problem? How can you sell the dream if you don't know the customer's nightmare? 🤔

In other words, your strategy ain’t sh*t, so I make every employee leave the ego at the door.

When you've walked a mile in every department's shoes, you stop seeing "us vs. them" and start seeing "we." Marketing starts understanding why Sales needs those specific assets. Sales starts to see why marketing assets take time. And everybody starts to understand how their departments can stand alone but can only surpass goals when they’re unified.

The big picture isn't just about seeing the whole puzzle - it's about understanding how each piece fits together. And sometimes, the best view comes from the ground floor. 💡

Specialization is how you scale, but generalization is why you succeed.

• Generalizing gives you perspective. You understand the entire system and how it works.

• Specializing gives you focus. You can double down on the area where you excel.

And when you combine the two? That’s when you dominate.

Picture it like playing chess. If you only understand how one piece moves, you’ll always lose to someone who sees the whole board. But if you master the game as a generalist, you’ll know exactly when to lean into the strength of a specific piece.

The Takeaway

Don’t rush into the specialist phase. Generalizing first gives you the foundation to make smarter, more strategic moves later on.

Success isn’t just about doing one thing really well—it’s about knowing how that one thing moves the needle for everything else. So, take the time to see the whole game board before choosing your piece. When you do, you’ll build a foundation that allows you to specialize with purpose and dominate with confidence.

TL;DR: Generalization builds perspective; specialization drives focus. Combine the two, and you’ll unlock your full potential.

Cheers,

Teddy

Teddy Giard

In case you don’t already know, my name is Teddy, and I operate a firm that specializes in marketing strategies for outdoor brands. Our approach is simple: align your product development timeline with your marketing production timeline; by doing so, we can own the distribution of our message and our products.

If you’d like to explore working together, feel free to fill out this form, and if we’re a good fit, we can schedule a discovery call. We ask this because we keep a fairly narrow target for whom we work, and we like to be as open about that on the front end as possible. After all, time is life’s most valuable resource.