Specialization Pays, But Adjacent Innovation Supercharges Results

There’s a standing debate: is it better to be a generalist or a specialist? In practice, the highest-leverage path involves building depth in one area and then deliberately moving into adjacent possibilities—places where your expertise meets new opportunities. This strategy doesn’t mean chasing every trend; it means finding what’s next at the edge of your skill set.

Startups and innovative organizations follow this pattern instinctively. A tech investor or engineer might become an expert in networking, then systematically back or build a series of companies that each refine or apply that knowledge slightly differently. Sometimes, one of these adjacent bets will become the breakout hit no one could have predicted. The key is not to get stuck in a rut or chase wild distractions but to keep finding the next likely step informed by real-world need and capability.

Academic research on creative success shows that the most prolific innovators master a core discipline, then recombine or stretch it in fresh, nearby directions—never by abandoning their strengths, but by applying them differently. This ‘adjacent innovation’ approach balances safety and boldness for smarter, higher-impact results.

Reflect on where your skills or interests are deepest, and make a deliberate plan for how you might extend that expertise into a closely related space. Start by piloting a quick project, partnership, or experiment and use feedback to decide if you’ll go further. The magic happens when you stay open but don’t overextend: adjacent moves are more likely to stick, and the biggest breakthroughs often arise from surprising recombinations. Try it this season and see how your own adjacent innovation pays off.