The importance of being overlooked
At some point in your career, you will be overlooked. Passed up. Skipped. Dismissed.
Early on, it happens because you're new. Later, it happens because you're different.
And as you grow, outpace your peers, stack up knowledge, practice, range—you’ll start to notice something strange:
The better you get across disciplines, the less people know where to put you.
Jack of all trades. Master of none. Never praised as the “master of one.”
You become a paradox:
- The person who can do everything
- But is known for nothing
Many hats. Many layers.
Obsessed with everything. Dangerous with all of it. Passed up by specialists who see you as alien.
But don't label yourself a Generalist.
And that’s why I know this: You're not overlooked because you're not good, but because most people don't even understand the shit you're good at.
You operate on layers—technical, strategic, creative—that don’t have a name in their vocabulary.
Most are content with a nine-to-five job. being told what to do. Some are hungry to go deep in their field, overindexing on specificity whilst missing the wider picture.
A rare few delegate their way to importance using levers like money and prestige.
And then there's you. The specialist ten times over. Native to the rabbit hole, unfazed by starting anew; in your element when out of your zone.
You define the goals. You connect the dots. You're out the door whilst the rest are tying their shoelaces. You translate your vision so that can only see in three dimensions.
You build the systems that matter most when everything else breaks around them.
That’s being the spine of the mission without wearing the cape.
That's being overlooked.