While the analogy of the T-shaped person (T-Shaped Person Skills Graph Analogy) is apt, it leaves a bit to be desired when thinking about how to apply it in a practical sense. I find it a little overwhelming - and maybe naive - to imagine that a person could have deep expertise in one or two areas, while being an ultimate generalist in everything else.

More specifically, when thinking of the quote "never be the smartest person in the room", it's easy to imagine that this means something on the opposite side of the spectrum. Maybe something like "be the dumbest person in the room".

That's obviously not helpful for anyone, and it feels very vulnerable to try and insert yourself into situations where you have no expertise.

On one hand, you have to earn your place in the room initially. You do that by having some level of competency about a subject. The vertical part of the T.

But the horizontal part of the T should also be comprised of things you're actually competent about. You're not actually T-shaped in context if you don't have anything to contribute.

All this to say that you should never strive to be the dumbest person in the room.

A more elaborate visual is here: T-shaped person bell curve

#toolong