Are you a Specialist Reformer or a General Practice Reformer?

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“In the beginner’s mind there are many choices, but in the expert’s there are few” - Shunryu Suzuki



Experienced reform leaders are, in a way, like physicians - some are General Practitioners, some are Specialists.


Specialists

Specialists are reforms who have become experts on a certain specific area.  They pursue reforms in these areas.  They hardly venture outside of this area.  


They have few, specific, and highly developed reform ideas.  They work on their technical papers until these are bulletproof.  And because they move within his specialized area, he tends to know the social and political milieu of his reform.  Chances are, he holds a high and respected position in his field.


His knowledge of how reform works is shaped by his experience in this area.  Since each sector tends to have its own culture and norms, change dynamics in a specialist’s environment can differ from the way things work in other environments.   Taken from his pond, the Specialist might make the mistake of assuming that things in a different environment work the same way as in his usual context. 


General Practitioners

The General Practice Reformer can pursue reform in many areas - probably, in any area.  


He can look into a development challenge - with which he has no prior experience - and come up with a handful of ideas for reform.  He gets ideas from experience, research, or imagination - not only his own, but many others’.  The level of technical rigor behind each reform idea varies.  He is comfortable with proposing any idea, testing it with people, and then discarding or using it according to its utility.


Thrown into unfamiliar environments, he learns how things work very fast.  From his experience of reform in many areas, he has a more developed sense of the dynamics of reform in general. (One could say that the process of reform is his specialization).


A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and a General Practitioner who thinks he has achieved some expertise with his knowledge can gain as much respect as an emperor with no clothes.


…

Are you a Specialist, or a General Practitioner?


If you’re a Specialist and want to try being a GP, you’ll have to go beyond your comfort zone.  You’ll have to learn new things, meet new people, work in an environment with different norms.


We’d give you the same advise that we would give to a General Practitioner who is learning to specialize: keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut.  Observe your new environment, and find your bearings - what do you want to do, what are your options?  Then make a decision, and execute.  Then observe the effects of your action, and go through the cycle of orientation, orientation, decision and action.  This will help you adapt to your new role.

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