At the risk of sounding like a die-hard skeptic, let me stick my neck out and say that the world we live in today is largely utilitarian. Utility Theory, which is at the core of most (if not all) modern microeconomic theories argues that “More is Better”. Even in education and in profession, I have observed that breadth is often rewarded more over depth, at least from where I see it. I am tempted to write this blog as I reflect on my journey at Frappe, where we believe in the contrary - “Art for art’s sake”, and contrast it with my past experiences as a generalist.
Obsession with doing more, than doing great
It all starts from the childhood! Kids are supposed to study multiple subjects at a time until they graduate, House Captains are typically overachievers who excel at sports, arts and academics all at once, knowing “more” languages is equated with being “good” at languages, and the list goes on. Even when one starts their career, there is always a dilemma of whether to specialise or to be a generalist. At many of India’s top colleges, generalist roles often attract higher salaries than specialist jobs. The same also continues in corporate - “diversification of portfolio” is etched in most corporate strategy presentations, “360-degree” is the norm for brand campaigns of consumer products, etc.
As a generalist myself, I have always been expected to multi-task (or as they say, “be on top of everything”). I was supposed to be a “Jack of all” more than “master of one”. Most of the times, work felt like a game of juggling where growth meant more glasses and there was no time to take a sip (ironically, which is what glasses are meant for). Doing every task with decent quality while multi-tasking meant working more hours. Tasks with dependencies meant endless meetings. Continuous context switching often led to stress. At the end of a long day, I often found myself asking “What did I really accomplish today?”
As I grew into managerial roles, I took pride in making elaborate work plans with self-imposed timelines, knowing well that most of them are impossible to meet. I assumed that my job was always to “get things done” and not “to do things”. Little did I know that there will be a time when I would work at a place where knowing or doing one thing really well mattered more than knowing a little bit about many things or knowing how to get things done from others who know their things very well!
Small is beautiful - a new way of working
I joined Frappe this April. What followed was a series of cultural shocks (some of which I have narrated in my last blog post). For the first time in life, I saw a CEO asking an employee to take fewer goals. I saw a truly flat hierarchy with a bunch of passionate “specialists” who excelled at their thing. I was impressed by the incessant push for quality, but also slightly worried about how I was going to live up to it if I was multi-tasking.
Thankfully, my first 3 months taught me a valuable lesson on this - Quality is impossible without Focus. It is humanly impossible to go deep (which is a primary requirement for quality) and broad (which is what multi-tasking is by definition) at the same time. This was a lesson learnt the hard way though. I kept juggling between product evaluations and work for most of the time, only to realise at the end that I had just scratched the surface of projects I picked as work and still had a part of my evaluations left. A valuable direction came from a colleague when they got to know my predicament - take some time away from work and just focus on clearing the evals. This was unlike the “old me”. But, I took that feedback seriously and much to my surprise, I cleared the most feared Accounting module in evals within just a week, and with a reasonable depth (not my hunch, my evaluator said so!).
I was extremely relieved to have cleared the evals. But what’s more is that I was happier to have realised that if I want to deliver the level of quality work Frappe expects, I need to focus on one thing at a time. Of course, it would be criminal to say that generalists compromise quality for speed or multi-tasking. I have done some of my best work (research, strategy, modelling) during my management consulting stints, which are generalist roles by definition. What I mean to say is that while doing “pareto” work can be enough to deliver value, there is a world beyond pareto which can only be experienced if you do deep, focused work, often at the cost of more time. At Frappe, Excellence is sought after, and that requires going beyond pareto. And to the relief of everyone working at Frappe, the leadership not only acknowledges this fact, but also reinforces the value of quality work incessantly through words and action.
Is there a right answer to this debate after all?
Perhaps not. In my view, neither multitasking nor focus can be your permanent way of working. Both have their own pros and cons. The art lies in knowing when to use what.
In roles that demand coordination (e.g. program management, business development, consulting, etc.), multitasking is inevitable. It is a skill that keeps things moving. On the other hand, in roles that demand creation (e.g. engineering, design, writing), depth and flow are non-negotiable. Moreover, in some roles (like the one I am in), one must oscillate between the two depending on the context. Some days or weeks demand juggling five different conversations, while others require shutting off distractions and immersing into one problem until it is cracked. The key is to not glorify either, but develop the awareness and discipline to switch modes deliberately, instead of drifting between them by default.
It’s much like the difference between how a juggler works versus a sculptor. The juggler needs rhythm, momentum, and has to keep multiple things in the air at once. On the other hand, the sculptor, needs stillness, patience, and attention to detail. Both are performers. Both create impact. But, their crafts demand opposite temperaments. Perhaps the real skill for a generalist lies in learning when to be the juggler and when to be the sculptor.
With that, I end my take on this debate. Some of it may have sounded like obvious wisdom, but as the discerning reader would have realised it is not that easy for a hardcore generalist. In the days to come, my pursuit will be to develop my judgement on when to multi-task and when to focus, and to also gather the required courage to keep distractions aside at times and dive as deep as it takes to deliver superior quality. And if I do that well, I believe, like the juggler and the sculptor, the act itself may just become the art!
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P.S. To know more about the concept of “Art at work”, watch the first episode of Frappe Podcast, ft. Rushabh Mehta.
