Is Staying in Your Lane Limiting Your Potential? Risks of Hyper-Specialization

Stay in your lane. Is this the road to success or to constipation?

My success as an academic scientist meant obtaining federal grants and publishing research in quality peer-reviewed journals, both extremely competitive endeavors with high odds of failure.  I succeeded and secured the brass ring of tenured full professorship.

That system rewards those who stake claim to a territory on the landscape of ideas and fiercely defend it by being THE expert. The the smaller the territory, the more easily defended. This always felt like an intellectual straight jacket for me. 

The freedom to follow my muse has been the greatest gift of leaving the security of that world after 30 years. Safety came at a price that in the end was too high. My only regret is not having had the courage to go sooner.

I see many here trying to stay in their lanes, focusing on being hyper-specialized, playing it safe, owning their space. It makes me wonder whether some of you feel as stifled as I did by that approach and what creative ideas and passions will molder as a result.

Is staying in your lane working well for you?