[random42]

> Someone who can do business deals, write code, and do user interface design, is 5X more valuable to us than a typical backend engineer.

Absolutely.... If you can find someone who is _equally_ good at all of those. Very rarely (I personally have never) you will see someone _equally_ apt (and good) at both left (Writing programming logic, Solving tough technical problems etc. ) and right ( designing User Interactions, Doing business deals etc.) brained work. Humans are not programmed like that.

Sure there are people who can get by doing multiple domains, but they are rarely fit/enjoy/brilliant at all of them.

[skidooer]

Talent is subjective and fairly assessing one's own abilities is impossible, but I have been employed in both programming and design jobs and have received a lot of positive feedback in both domains. Given that, I think the thought processes behind each are very similar:

In programming, design is just as important as logic. Code not only needs to be functional, but it also needs to look good. A visually attractive codebase is much more maintainable due to the basic human response to beauty.

In design, logic is also just as important. When designing an interface, for example, you are constantly solving problems about how the user is going interact with the design. The process of getting there is exactly the same as solving a programming problem.

I think there is a lot of ebb and flow if you don't typecast yourself. As a young kid I was quite interested in the arts. I remember spending a lot of time drawing and honing my visual skills because that's what I enjoyed doing. As I got a little older, I became fascinated by logic problems, remember spending a lot of time learning how to program.

Interestingly, as it relates to this discussion, now that I have grown older still, I actually have become much more interested in business and is one of the reasons why I follow this website. While I've closed a few deals along the way, my business deal abilities definitely lag behind the aforementioned skill sets. That I chalk that up to being much less experienced, not because of any genetic hinderances, however.

It is of my opinion that the biggest limiting factor is time. I was, perhaps, lucky that I started young which afforded me more time to put focus on both design and programming. Whereas for someone else who started programming in college it becomes difficult to fit in time for other interests, such as learning design. I know I spend less time doing business type work than I would otherwise like to because my plate is already full with other jobs. Because of that I miss the opportunity to grow in that area.

[lsc]

Eh, I think there is an expense angle to that as well. I can get pretty good unix people for cheap, if I'm willing to take someone with poor communication skills. I can get someone with good communication skills for cheap if I'm willing to take someone with poor technical skills. Now, some of this can be solved by training, and some of it can be solved by making different people work together, but not all of it.

There are people who really are good at everything; but those people are as useful as they are rare, which makes them expensive. Usually, if you want a generalist, you are right, you take a skill hit vs. paying the same money to a specialist with large weaknesses in other areas.