9 April, 2020

What are T Shaped People? | Video


One idea that’s big in the world of Agile that should be big throughout Project Management is that of T Shaped People.

So, in this video, I will answer the question ‘What are T Shaped People?’

This video is safe for viewing in the workplace.

This is learning, so, sit back and enjoy

People with niche skills – depth in one topic only, and little else by way of skills, are like a verticle line: deep and narrow.

Others have a broad range of skills, but no great depth of knowledge or experience in any of them.

But T Shaped People have both depth and breadth.

Philip Tetlock adopted the metaphor of the Hedgehog and Fox.

‘The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

But T Shaped people have the best of both worlds.

And then there is a T Shaped Team…

Combining T Shaped People adds depth across a broader range – and even greater breadth.

  • In turn, this makes teams more self-sufficient and better able to act autonomously within the overall goal, objectives, and plan.
  • You’ll have less reliance on a single person who knows about everything – if most people do
  • Also, larger, self-organizing teams can lead to less silo-ing.
  • And finally, you’ll get less key person risk – non-experts have enough base knowledge to help out at pressure points.

For more videos about Agile Project Management

We have a series of videos, answering the question ‘What is…

  • Agile Project Management?
  • Scrum?
  • Kanban?
  • Lean Project Management?
  • Scrumban?
  • Planning Poker?
  • Cone of Uncertainty?
  • Minimum Viable Product – MVP?

You can see them all in the Agile Methodologies course in our Free Academy of Project Management.


For more great Project Management videos, please subscribe to the OnlinePMCourses YouTube channel.

If you want basic Management Courses – free training hosted on YouTube, with 2 new management lessons a week, check out our sister channel, Management Courses.

For more of our Project Management videos in themed collections, join our Free Academy of Project Management.

For more of our videos in themed collections, join our Free Academy of Project Management

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Mike Clayton

About the Author...

Dr Mike Clayton is one of the most successful and in-demand project management trainers in the UK. He is author of 14 best-selling books, including four about project management. He is also a prolific blogger and contributor to ProjectManager.com and Project, the journal of the Association for Project Management. Between 1990 and 2002, Mike was a successful project manager, leading large project teams and delivering complex projects. In 2016, Mike launched OnlinePMCourses.
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