I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately. It seems like most job postings these days, both for permanent employment and freelance projects, require experience within very Specific segments.

There are times when you do want a specialist. If I ever need brain surgery, I certainly Hope it’s performed by a neurosurgeon. And I hope that person has extensive experience performing the specific procedure. But what makes specialization such an asset in that case can actually be a detriment in advertising.

The neurosurgeon is trained to perform the same tasks in the same way every time. His narrow specialty focus helps sharpen those skills. But advertising is about being different. It’s about helping clients stand out amid all the clutter. It requires Creativity, not convention.

Hyper-focus is the enemy of creativity. As creativity expert Will Burns suggests in a recent article on Forbes, we can increase our odds of creativity by changing our context and environment and filling our heads with varied facts, thoughts and experiences.

That’s not impossible in a highly Specialized situation, but it is a challenge. I’ve found that if all your time is spent "inside the box," it’s hard to even see, let alone think, outside it. But I’m open to hearing perspectives from anyone with different experiences. Otherwise, I might have tunnel vision myself.