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Back in the early ’90s, a guy named David Guest conceptualized a “T-shaped” person, someone whose skills and knowledge were both broad and deep, general and specialized. Back in the early 2010s, I claimed my own letter-shaped concept in a blog about the skills of the future by coining the term “E-shaped person.” (People liked it. There were viral memes involving Mr. T and Richard Simmons. In fact, people liked it so much that you can now find my concept plagiarized across the web. I’m flattered.)
An E-shaped person is this: someone who is characterized by general experience, deep expertise, a penchant for exploration and the ability to execute — to make, build or produce the tangible result of an idea. AI is getting pretty good at the experience and expertise bit. Gen Z is getting really good at the exploration bit.
But AI can’t be an entrepreneur. It can’t conceive, plan and make. Only humans can do that. But I’m getting worried lately that our execution skills are underdeveloping.
Cultural Forensics of America’s Love Affair With KPIs
Historically, the United States finds our pride in being human doings, rather than human beings. We ask, “What do you do?” as the second question out of our mouths at a dinner party. We live in the most competitive and generative economy on earth, boasting over 50% of the world’s VC spend. We’re number one in Nobel Laureates. We account for nearly 30% of the world’s R&D budget. America was founded by explorers and settlers with the wanderlust gene. No wonder KPIs, “upgrades” and seals of approval were born from American culture.
In America, self-worth and cultural currency come from being busy, it’s no wonder the “maker” and “creator” economies thrive in the USA. We are self-sufficient, independent, individualistic, self-made and have considered these traits to be virtues.
And it has exhausted us. We have also become known as a culture marked by workaholism, burnout and a mental health crisis. Gen Z has gotten wise and is erecting much better boundaries. They’re creative and imaginative; fluid, resilient and self-starting. They’re excellent explorers. In the midst of that exploration, I really hope they keep making stuff.
Because the ones who will really own the future will be those who know how to build it. E-shaped.
Consequences of a “Doing Deficit” in a Society of Generalists
My peers in the innovation space of the world’s largest companies tell me they aren’t short on strategy, insight, foresight and innovative ideas. What they’re lacking is people who can build stuff.They’re looking for talent to build and commercially scale things, leading projects from discovery through delivery.
Businesses today want employees who not only bring ideas to fruition but who lead the process end to end: from idea to invention to incubation to acceleration. This requires grit, focus, tenacity and new skills. Businesses expect executives to fly at different altitudes, toggling between 30,000-foot vision and strategy, and 30-foot project management, production and scale. This requires big-picture strategy and small-picture tactical attention to detail.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Great strategy can break down with poor execution, so executives are being pushed to prototype solutions. Furthermore, building MVPs (minimal viable products) is no longer enough. Managers (and investors) today also need to see that something has not only been built but launched and scaled. This requires entrepreneurship.
It’s challenging to measure the KPI or ROI (return on investment) of an insight or idea. Everything in business is data-driven — we can’t compete without metrics. Ideas are like noses… everyone has one. In a world where anyone can be an armchair expert (or keyboard warrior), ideas are commodities. Executed ideas are more rare, and change the world.
To Impact Culture, Be the Long Read Version
In the early 2000s, I worked in the South African gold industry focused on economic stimulus and innovation after Apartheid, and I got an idea: What if we built a Gold of Africa museum? What if the museum not only celebrated ancient African goldsmithing heritage but was also a gold innovation hub and venue for cultural events?
It was a moonshot, but determined, I created a business plan, found investors, acquired a gold artifact collection, managed the construction of the museum over two years, hired and trained the staff, and oversaw the manufacturing of hundreds of gift shop items and gold innovations. The Gold of Africa Museum scaled to become Cape Town’s #3 tourist attraction.
Why did I do it? To make the biggest impact on South African culture. I had spent years sharing strategies and ideas, forging partnerships and exploring “what ifs,” but it was intangible stuff. I realized that making real change and being a social and political catalyst required tangible examples and proof of concepts. The museum became a place where we tested new products in a real-world selling environment.
A modern example of shaping culture through execution (making ideas reality) is MSCHF, an art collective that produces controversial viral products to spark debate and make social commentary. MSCHF challenges conventional notions of art, consumerism and internet culture by putting provocative products out into the wild. MSCHF turns an abstract concept into something concrete that can be seen, touched or physically experienced (“Making the intangible tangible”). I’m so inspired by this.
If I have any advice for Gen Z, it’s this: make stuff. You’re already brilliant. Take the leap. Be the long read version of yourself. Have something to show for your efforts — a blog, a small business, a website, a blanket, a portfolio.
Demonstrate that you can turn your ideas into tangible deals, and that you can move smoothly from brainstorming to building.
Ideas are just the seeds to shaping culture; if you want to really change things, build things!
