Its not clear to me that this new language points at a useful distinction(at least not from what you’ve said so far). Valves t-shaped individuals are actually pointing at the opposite of what you’re pointing at—they don’t want individuals too specialized because of their unique corporate structure (ie, not having a corporate structure), so they need everyone to have the broad base.
And the long tail on specialization works because they can hire to fill out relevant other competencies. Whereas, it’s not always the case that it makes sense for a company with a core competency to outsource functions to other companies, there are Coasian dynamics at play to make that cost more than one would expect.
I would much more, through a process of pushing through constraints, expect a healthy company to look something like vshaped, with having a smooth gradient of competencies based on how central they are to throughput.
Its not clear to me that this new language points at a useful distinction(at least not from what you’ve said so far). Valves t-shaped individuals are actually pointing at the opposite of what you’re pointing at—they don’t want individuals too specialized because of their unique corporate structure (ie, not having a corporate structure), so they need everyone to have the broad base.
And the long tail on specialization works because they can hire to fill out relevant other competencies. Whereas, it’s not always the case that it makes sense for a company with a core competency to outsource functions to other companies, there are Coasian dynamics at play to make that cost more than one would expect.
I would much more, through a process of pushing through constraints, expect a healthy company to look something like vshaped, with having a smooth gradient of competencies based on how central they are to throughput.