"Generalist vs specialist" is the dumbest debate in design. You're all arguing about the wrong axis.
It's not breadth versus depth. That's a skills thing, and skills were never the real fork in the road. The actual choice is IC depth versus a leadership track — and one of those quietly comes with a ceiling stapled to the title.
Look at how the job posts talk. Every single one: "T-shaped." "Own the end-to-end journey." Adorable. Now read the salary band and what they actually score you on — it's the one thing you're deep in. In fintech and B2B it's not even subtle. Nobody hires me because my portfolio is wide. They hire me because I get business logic and payment flows — because "mostly works" in payments means somebody didn't get paid. A broad portfolio kills it on Dribbble. In a payout-flow review it does nothing.
So here's the part nobody says to your face. A Senior IC with no vector is a great executor, full stop. And the ceiling shows up fast — you ship other people's product decisions, just quicker than everyone else. That's a career with the glass ceiling already in the job title, and most folks don't clock it until they're standing right under it.
So I'm out looking for a Staff / Head of Design role right now — and yeah, leading a team is the part I actually want, not the part I'm scared of. Big product calls need real authority, and a Senior IC just doesn't get that. A team is how you get it.
Being right stops being enough. You need the power to make the call — and people making it with you.
Remote makes this harder, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. No hallway. No one sees you work. Trust takes way longer to build. But that's a strategy problem, not a wall — you go build the visibility nobody's handing you for free.
And here's the uncomfortable bit: the market is never going to write a JD for the role you've decided you want. You put it together yourself and prove it before anyone signs off. Which is exactly what I'm doing right now.
So tell me I'm wrong. Is "T-shaped" actual career advice — or just how companies buy senior depth at generalist prices?
