Instead of being a generalist, the best way to stay valuable is by combining deep skills. For example, a PM who can also design, or an engineer who is highly product-minded, becomes a "unicorn" in an AI-augmented team. This interdisciplinary spike makes you far more valuable and less replaceable.

Inspired by Dilbert creator Scott Adams, the key to career success is combining skills. Being a cartoonist who understood business was a rare combination. AI makes it easier to develop a second or third deep skill, transforming you from a replaceable specialist into an invaluable, multi-talented individual.

In a crowded market, your unique advantage isn't a single niche, but the intersection of several. Combining passions like "jigsaw puzzles" and "microbrews" creates a new, defensible category where you are the expert. Your true niche is the unique combination that makes up you.

To thrive in the AI era, go beyond a "T-shaped" profile. Develop deep expertise in one core skill and strong proficiency in two or more adjacent ones (an "E" or "F" shape). This combination makes you non-fungible and irreplaceable, as economist Larry Summers advised.

Instead of striving to be the best in a single domain, find a unique intersection of skills you're good at. Being able to negotiate across both design and engineering, for example, creates a niche where you are the "only" person with that combination, making you more valuable than being just another "good" specialist.

Instead of competing to be the best in a crowded field, find a unique niche or combination of skills where you have no substitutes. This is the key to long-term success, as demonstrated by the PayPal Mafia members who each carved out their own distinct paths.

The era of deep specialization is over. Career durability now comes from being proficient (in the 70th percentile) across multiple vectors. Instead of being a master of one, aim to be a 'jack of all trades' by finding a valuable intersection of three strong skills.

Success doesn't require being a prodigy in one skill like coding. It's the combination of being 'good enough' in multiple areas—like building, marketing, and entrepreneurship—that creates a winning formula. The blended skill set is more valuable than isolated genius.

Instead of aiming to be the best in one narrow field, build a more antifragile career by becoming 80% competent in several different domains (e.g., design, sales, engineering). The unique intersection of these skills makes you the "only" person who can solve certain complex problems, creating durable value.