- “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
- — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
HGWT is a general IT project firm – we handle everything.
At HGWT, we generalize on IT. We’ve crimped CAT5 cable, soldered circuits, installed hard drives, wrote code, placed POS systems, ran video wire for surveillance systems, coded databases, framed accounting systems and even tigered a few firewalls. We’ve also built, designed and created standard web pages, business e-commerce solutions and handled internet marketing campaigns. When the wireless age came along, many of us were already HAM radio operators, network installers and wireless phone technicians – so we’ve been there.
In the IT world, people with a wide knowledge of the field are called generalists.
HGWT stands for “Have Genius Will Travel” – one doesn’t need a science degree to figure out that this phrase is based on the old cowboy hero, Paladin. Paladin neatly fits the text book example of the generalist and is the classic example of a competent man.
Generalist ideology and practice is nothing new. In the past, they were often symbolized by the country doctor – a person skilled in all forms of medicine. We apply that same generalist ideology to our IT work … simply put, we don’t get hung up on one thing; we move around it and get things done.
So why hire a Generalist? The answer to that question is simple: why not. Contrary to popular belief, Generalists are not typical ‘know-it-alls’, they simply know exactly where to start and how to see something through. If anything, they know the process and flow of how something should be done. In many cases, generalists are far more cost-effective since they know where to go to get answers.
When someone asks, “What do you specialize in?” – it can be a bit bewildering to hear us say “Everything …” . A Generalist company does exactly that, they do everything within their field. Well beyond the standard Jack-of-all-trades, Generalists have to be great project managers. This is essential to the field, since they are required to know the basics of what it takes to bring a project from start to finish. Generalists also have a broad range of experiences – and that’s the the key : experience.
In the words of my uncle, an established car executive and millionaire, said when I asked he how he was so successful, “Son, I know how to do everything that all of my employees do – and I even take out my own trash.“
Whether you need someone to help with a simple design project, learning new accounting software or setting up an e-commerce site – we can do it.
