We celebrate the specialist. We admire the expert who has gone so deep into their craft that nobody else can touch them.
And then we watch them vanish.
Not because they were wrong to go deep. Going deep is almost always the right move. Research by Bain & Company consistently shows that focused companies outgrow diversified competitors by a factor of 2 or more over 10-year periods. Depth creates moats.
But a moat requires water.
The specialist who stops observing the world outside their lane eventually discovers that the lane has moved. The market didn’t abandon them. They abandoned the market.
Roger Martin talks about “where to play and how to win.” Most founders answer the first part brilliantly. They find their field, narrow relentlessly, and become the undeniable choice in that space.
The second part is harder. Winning requires knowing when the rules of the game have changed.
The one-trick pony is not the problem. The pony who refuses to notice the rodeo changed venues is.
Going deep is the strategy. Staying curious is the survival plan. The two are not opposites. The best operators in any market have learned to do both simultaneously, building extraordinary competence while remaining genuinely interested in what is shifting around them.
We don’t need more range. We need more depth with open eyes.
