Let's first talk about the advantages of each. Generalists have an advantage of shifting across topics with relative ease. While they might not have the most nuanced understanding, the majority of issues don't require going too deep below the surface. There's also the ability to see cause and effect going in and out of systems to recognize what's an internal versus an external problem simply by having a general understanding of how things should work from start to finish.
Now specialists aren't necessarily in a knowledge silo, but they do often know nuanced knowledge about their specialty. Understanding a problem in their wheelhouse may come quicker with what the cause is and how to fix it. A specialist is also better for seeing up specific systems, knowing more in depth about optimization and features.
As a generalist working as a specialist with specialists, I often times find it frustrating when trying to help people trace out issues from start to finish when people get lost as soon as you go too far from their scope. I do, however, appreciate when they see an issue and know immediately how to fix it before I had a chance to fully piece everything together.
When it comes to practicality, a generalist is more versatile. When it comes to jobs, we all know the main motivator is cash, so let's focus on that.
A specialist will often make far more than a generalist, but the down side is jobs will be less common and often require support specific knowledge like a specific software within your specialty. Generalists often get the crap jobs as well where you're more likely to do the physical work while a specialist sits at their desk designing or shifting through data. Specialists can also easily drop down to a generalist job when job hunting, which sucks for a specialist but at least you can find job opportunities that way.
So which is better? I don't really have a good answer, so instead I'll use anecdotal evidence.
I have had server administrator tell me they got an http error like 500, 501, and 503 and tell me it's a network problem. I've had a network guy turned NOSC mention a 404 error and claim it's a network issue because it can't find how to get to a file. The same guy also claimed a 501 work was a network issue then ask me why changing from wired to wifi would fix the issue if it was a server issue (it's because it was a distributed service and the application end find a bad server in the group, when it was removed the issue disappeared). I had a Linux guy tell me powershell sucks because he couldn't figure out how to use it, but he didn't know the get-command or get-help commands existed. I had a server guy tell me the network configuration was broken because he put in a wing subnet mask and everything broke when proxy arp was turned off, therefore the server works fine and it's a network issue. I was given a file with some network analyst stuff saying it showed a network issue because it had a port trigger, but I showed him it was the antivirus doing the port trigger using the data he sent me and didn't actually read (he called it a routing issue for some reason).
I could probably go on for days with people just making assumptions due to limited knowledge of one system where they try pretending their specialized knowledge explains it all. Now let's pick on generalists.
I've had help desk tell me the network was configured wrong because it was "being assigned an APIPA" and it's turned out to be no link lights because it's not actually plugged in, broken docking stations, bad cables, or malfunctioning voip phones. I've had http errors passed on like they're networking issues. I've been given IP addresses when I've asked for a Mac address and a Mac when I asked for an IP. Really, the most common issue I get is people just not knowing what to do when they see an APIPA because I guess no one really gets what they're for or how they get there. Even mentioning an ad hoc network leads to blank stares
My point in mentioning all of this is there are a lot of issues I see from both sides. I've walked both lines, and I can always recognize others who are more like my mindset because there's a specialist knowledge and a generalist approach. It has its own issues, like overthinking simple problems or just taking forever to explore everything you think of with a problem. Each but if data becomes a new rabbit hole, each problem and process unfolds into huge maps of processes and technicalities you can get lost in.
Neither side is without advantages and disadvantages. What people really need to do, is learn to research before speaking about something they didn't know or simply ask a question rather than asserting something and looking like an idiot.
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