To be excellent, you need to be wrong. Unique knowledge comes from doing unknown things, and these roads will sometimes fizzle out. The entities that tread these paths will often be individuals and not teams — potential for change is inversely proportional to committee size.
Do not wait until the knock is at the door. If you are running a successful team, product group or company the best time to invite pessimism in, is when you are on top — what is next for you — the best time to give up the crown is when you can see the next diamond in the rough. No trend or product stays on top forever, and when it falls, it takes time — years — to come back. Being able to pivot in this way, is much more important than how high you can jump.
But if you do find yourself in the rough, trust the market, bear times always turn. As will your own situation. When looking for that next thing, try to focus on logic and value, not sentiment and trend.
Success as a niche expert fluctuates more than life as a generalist. In the same way that single stocks fluctuate more than an index fund. Therefore being niche has a greater upside in the long run, as long as you can stay solvent.
Adapted from https://www.franklintempleton.co.uk/investor/resources/investor-education/templeton-maxims