[dspillett]

> Everything is made from smaller components. Understand each of those components better and you'll understand the entire system better.

This. No matter how specialised you are (or want to be) always strive to have at least a basic understanding of the full stack and everything else that your work touches through a couple of levels of indirection (including the wetware such as, in commercial contexts, having a good understanding of your client's business even if you aren't even close to being client-facing) because it will help you produce much more useful/optimal output and can be a lot more helpful when your colleagues/compatriots/partners/what-ever his a technical problem. Heck, at the logical extreme a little cross discipline understanding could even lead you to discovering a better method of doing X that strips out the need for Y altogether, revolutionising how we do Z.

Of course don't go overboard unless you are truly a genius... Trying to keep up with everything in detail is a sure-fire route to mental burn-out!