Breaking the Norms
A clear trend is emerging in the startup ecosystem. The rise of the generalist operator. Those individuals who gain experience across verticals and then specialise deeply in one. This is similar to what David Epstein described in his book ‘Range’. He argues that early specialisation is not ideal. Instead, gaining diverse experiences across fields help to become effective in one’s career.
This is also the idea on which the IAS was founded on. The officers of the Indian Adminsitrative Service are also trained for breadth and not necessarily depth, but they eventually end up specialising in a particular area of administration. This helps them to solve problems across areas as well as allows the Government to have a uniform cadre of generalists, ready to be deployed cross functionally.
In the conventional workplace, especially in the for-profit space, this has not always been possible. The entire system of modern work is based on specialisation and division of labour. Taylorism has dictated how work is structured in larger units across industries.
But in the world of startups, this became a hindrance. The constraints were different. The luxury of super specialisation often came at a much later stage. And therefore those who were able to wear many hats often become successful and rose more swiftly to the top and occupied leadership positions.
The Need For Breadth
Many founders too exhibit this trait. They try and build capacity to navigate through different areas, upto a certain depth. Which is why even in a function like HR at a startup- many folks end up doing business partnering, recruitment and compensation all in a day’s work.
In the same vein, a good HR partner is expected to understand the core business of the organisation, the bottlenecks, the competive landscape of the industry and of course how the dots connect.
Likewise a product manager who has been an engineer can certainly become a better PM by empathising the needs of the engineering team. The FP&A folks can help turn the business turn around if they understand revenue cycles and sales operations. The customer success manager can become better at customer retention if they understand the product offerings and the comeptition better.
The T-Shape of Specialisation
In short, anyone who develops the T-shape of specialisation will stand to gain disproportionately in the future. Horizontally, the t-shape focusses on developing sufficient breadth in at least 3 to 4 core areas of business which one can apply across industry or sector. Vertically, it is that area where one pursues absolute mastery of their craft. This allows one to move strategically, not ignoring areas which can be potentially impacted by one’s actions. This is likely to happen in a fast faced environment where speed of execution matters the most.
Most successful operators who display these characteristics also exhibit other behavioural traits. They are eternally curious and are eager to learn new things. They often invest time and energy into learning new things and ask questions to clarify their understanding. They display a high agency and often try to picture and pursue the bigger picture. They understand that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Their approach to problem is also multidisplinary and often exhibiting first principles thinking.
It is hard to institutionalise this mindset but it is not impossible. Many successful startups often end up leveraging these individuals and their need to do more quite well. Cross functional projects, task forces and rotational jobs are some ways of building a culture where the generalist operator thrives.