Yes, if you look at the top innovators, you can see that they all have this generalist streak going. While some of them might be specialists in some areas, it is this generalist streak that separates them from the pack. If you are able to see away from your narrow little sector and have a wider perspective, you can apply things from other areas. One example of this is Steve Jobs. He was able to take analogies from different areas (what do home appliances have to do with PCs?), and then apply them at Apple. Another guy like that is Elon Musk. Or if you go back in history, guys like Thomas Edison was also in many ways a generalist, who had a broad perspective on things.