Tim McKenna is the owner of Azrael Group, a small design studio in Pennsylvania. He discusses the tradeoffs of pursuing breadth vs depth in one's career. Pursuing breadth provides a wide range of knowledge but risks not mastering any individual area. Pursuing depth provides mastery in a few areas but limits one to a narrow scope of work. The best approach is to focus on developing a core skill set while also learning related disciplines to broaden one's abilities and collaborate with others to integrate different perspectives.

1. Breadth vs. Depth

2. Who is Tim McKenna?
Tim McKenna @ azraelgroup.com
Owner of Azrael Group, a small design studio in Enola, PA - @AzraelGroup
In-house designer and developer for Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians - @PAFPandF
WordPress/BuddyPress advocate.
Gets asked to speak a lot on design, technology and career development.
Active in many professional groups: AIGA, CPAUG, Society of Design, Freelancer’s Union.
Avid fan of Sci-Fi and Horror stories, movies and art.

3. Definitions
Breadth: a wide range or extent.
Depth: complexity or profundity of thought.
Which avenue will do we want to pursue in our careers?

4. Broad Knowledge
Pros
- You know the principles and workings of how to develop solutions through a
variety of means.
- Your knowledge allows you to talk intelligently with people with different
disciplines.
Cons
- You don’t understand all of the possible pitfalls and workarounds for every
solution
- Your own abilities to achieve those solutions may be out of your own reach.

5. Deep Knowledge
Pros
- Your focus has allowed you to build up mastery in a few areas.
- You are understand the entire process of concept to solution in your workflow.
Cons
- You don’t understand how your work fits in with other disciplines
- Your limited to only a specific kind of work.

6. Which is better?

7. Unfortunately,
there is no easy answer.

8. Full time design jobs are more scarce since the
economic recession, while a shift in need to
developers has boomed in the last several years.
Many full time jobs require skill sets in both
disciplines, both in agencies and in-house.
Freelancers and new design businesses
struggle to find their focus in the sea of client
expectations and needs.

9. By broadening our skill set, we can offer more
to clients, our employers, and even allows us to
venture on our own.
Too much broadening then we
max out our mastery.

10. By focusing in on a few skills, we allow ourselves
the ability to fully understand a process and
workflow, how to achieve a solution in
this discipline.
Too much focus closes us off to other possible
solutions that can achieve better outcomes.

11. How can we have the
best of both worlds?

12. Practice the skills you want for your core skill set.
Diverge and find relevant disciplines can you
want to marry your core skill set to.
Maintain good relationships with others with
different disciplines and collaborate with them.

13. Thank you.
Tell me what you think.
azraelgroup.com