Specialization and Adaptation

There's a room of shadows that gets so dark brother
It's so easy for two people to lose each other
--Bruce Springsteen

Following up on the previous post, specialized operations, while enjoying productivity advantages in stable environments, face adaptation challenges in turbulent environments. Narrow task portfolios contain less activities applicable toward doing new things necessary for adaptation.

Diversified operations, on the other hand, have broader task portfolios that are likely to contain skills that can be converted into novel, innovative activities that facilitate adaptation in uncertain situations.

Specialization should be preferable in predictable environments but potentially a liability as instability grows.