Welcome to The Friends Theory, where we take sitcom moments and realise they've been therapy sessions in disguise all along.

This week: career "lanes," Joey's confusion, and why your "too broad" background might actually be your secret weapon.

4-minute read. Multiple lanes welcome.

The One Where We Don’t Pick A Lane

Insights from “The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line” (Season 4 Episode 7)

Picture it:
Joey's dating two women: Kathy and Elaine. Chandler (who's secretly in love with Kathy) sees his chance and delivers some serious advice:

Joey tilts his head, genuinely confused:

Peak Joey. Peak confusion at the whole "pick a lane" idea.

And you know what?: I hear Joey every single time someone gives me that advice. Not just because I love the show, but because like Joey, I refuse to pick a lane when I don't need to.

It got me thinking: maybe his confusion isn't cluelessness. Maybe it's wisdom.

Ever Been Here?

Think about your life outside of work for a second…

You like sweet AND savory food. You watch true crime AND rom-coms. You feel ambitious, uncertain, excited, and exhausted… sometimes in the same conversation.

You're a complex, multi-layered human being.

So why does career advice often insist you flatten yourself into one dimension?

I've always felt like being a generalist was my disadvantage. I've worked strategy and execution, creative and commercial, client side and agency side. I can see things from multiple angles—and for years, I thought that meant I was "too broad."

Building my own business, I've been putting serious pressure on myself to figure it out: What's my lane? What's my one thing? What's my perfect elevator pitch?

But here's the reality: I have clients across different spectrums, and it's working.

Maybe the problem isn't that I'm "too general." Maybe I've been using the wrong measuring stick entirely.

This idea that we need to pick one thing isn't just outdated—it's counterintuitive to how humans actually operate.

Try This On - The Story You Don’t Know

For years, I carried “jack of all trades, master of none” like it was a medical diagnosis.
Something to apologize for. Something to fix.

Then I found out the full line:

“Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one.”

Turns out, I wasn’t the problem—the story I’d been handed was missing the best part.

Here’s the truth: when you understand multiple sides of a business, you see connections others can’t. When you’ve played different roles, you speak more than one professional language. When you refuse to fit in a box, you invent new ways to work.

Here's something controversial: Picking a lane might just be the thing that keeps you small.

I can be known for one or two things professionally, sure. But the idea that it has to define me? Please. I’m more likely to be known for my haircut (blunt fringe going on 20 years strong — minus the ill-fated pixie cut of 2009) than I am for staying in one professional box.

The people who change industries, solve big problems, and build interesting careers? They’re usually the ones who refused to stay in a box.

Now, I'm not saying specialization never works. Brain surgeons should probably stick to brain surgery. Some fields genuinely require deep, focused expertise.

But for most of us? The ability to move between worlds isn't a weakness—it's the whole advantage.

🔁 Your One Takeaway (ironic, I know)

Stop measuring yourself with an incomplete ruler.

Here's your generalist advantage checklist:
✓ You speak multiple professional languages
✓ You see patterns others miss
✓ You can translate between teams who don't understand each other
✓ You have empathy for different sides of the business
✓ You pivot when others get stuck
✓ You create solutions because you see the bigger picture

This week: Pick one thing you've been apologizing for about your career. Ask yourself: "What if this is actually my advantage?"

Final Thought- Who’s Elaine?

There isn’t a box big enough for all of you. And there never will be.

That’s not a flaw to fix…it’s the thing that makes you indispensable.

So the next time someone tells you to “pick a lane,” channel Joey. Look baffled and ask:

Because maybe the confusion isn’t yours.
Maybe it’s theirs. For thinking you were ever meant to drive in just one lane when you were clearly born to own the whole freeway.

More sitcom therapy next Tuesday,
Lucy xx

P.S. If you're more of an Elaine than ‘a lane’, start here👇

Thanks for reading The Friends Theory. I appreciate you so much ❤️