The T-Shaped ProfessionalWhy You Should Strive to Become One

MSGIC Quarterly Meeting

October 20, 2016

About Me

• 16 years of experience working in the GIS industry

• Experience working on both the public and private sector

• Avid cyclist, NPR junkie, and live music lover

About JMT Technology Group

• Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT) is a multi-disciplined consulting firm incorporated in 1971

• #67 on ENR Top 100 engineering firms

• 1,500+ employees

• Over 75 Information and Geospatial Technology professionals

• Over 30 years of experience providing solutions

• Headquartered in Maryland with 33 office locations across various states

I-Shaped Professionals

• Someone who has deep knowledge in a specific area

• Result of intensive study over many years

• Authority in the field / subject matter expert

T-Shaped Professionals

DE P TH

Functional skill

B R E A D T H

Ability to apply knowledge across situations

Ability to Apply Knowledge Across Disciplines

“The horizontal stroke of the “T” is the disposition for collaboration across disciplines. It is composed of two things.

First, empathy. It’s important because it allows people to imagine the problem from another perspective- to stand in somebody else’s shoes.

Second, they tend to get very enthusiastic about other people’s disciplines, to the point that they may actually start to practice them.

T-shaped people have both depth and breadth in their skills."

- Tim Brown, IDEO CEO

Photo credit: https://www.ideo.com/people/tim-brown

The Dangers of Being Too Much of a Generalist

Spe

cial

ist

Generalist• Without knowledge in a focus area,

your T lacks a foundation

• You don’t have a skill to contribute to the team

• It’s hard to get respect from peers without knowledge in a specific area

• It’s easy to become a generalist and therefore it has low value

Benefits of Being a T-Shaped Professional

• T-shaped skills are highly valued in the marketplace

• Teams are becoming more important than individuals; interdisciplinary teams provide the most value

• Collaboration spawns innovation and growth

How to Increase Your Breadth: Hard Skills

• Gain a broader context for your specialized skillset

• Improve your knowledge of how humans and the society work

• Understand the industry you work in, including its trends

• Obtain an understanding of how the business world works

• Basic understanding of marketing and sales

How to Increasing Your Breadth: Soft Skills

• Ability to work well on a team

• Communication skills (verbal and written)

• Time management skills

• Listening skills

• Tolerance and open-mindedness

Soft Skills that Provide Additional Value

• Leadership

• Organization

• Ability to present information to others

• Creativity

Ways to Motivate People to Become T-Shaped Professionals

• Move to a flatter organization model

• Empower employees to make decisions, deal with conflict, and be accountable

• Invest in training – hard and soft skills

• Mentor and coach employees

Beyond the T

Pi-Shaped People

DE P TH

DE P TH

B R E A D T H

DE P TH

DE P TH

B R E A D T H

DE P TH

M-Shaped People

Sources

• T-shaped skills in every area of your life – AgileLeanLife.com

• Becoming Invaluable: The T-Shaped Professional –ASPE SDLC Training

• Valve Handbook for New Employees – Valve Corporation

• T-Shaped Stars: The Backbone of IDEO’s Collaborative Culture –ChiefExecutive.net

• Are You an “I” or a “T”? – Forbes.com

• Defining the breadth of skills of T-shaped people –Plausible Utopias Blog

• The Rise of the T-Shaped Organization – The Wall Street Journal

• Future Work Skills 2020 – The Institute for the Future

• We Don’t Need the Best People, We Need the Best Teams –Forbes.com

• Brené Brown on Empathy – YouTube

Q & ANiki Miller, PMP, GISPJMT Technology GroupMaryland Regional Director(443) 662-4260nmiller2@jmt.com

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