Wednesday, 8.14pm
Sheffield, U.K.
If you just focus on the smallest details, you never get the big picture right. – Leroy Hood
There is stuff that is interesting.
And then there is stuff you get paid for.
What’s the difference between them?
I had a research induction today where I learned what happens over the three to five years you are going to experience.
It starts with excitement – there’s so much to learn and discover and do.
Then it turns into overwhelm and worry and a sense of being lost.
And then you find your thing, spurred on by a deadline, and focus on something specific and achievable.
Then you pass.
This pattern repeats again and again in life – first you experience a broad sweep across the canvas of your life and then you focus and focus until you are doing the thing you do.
Or, more precisely, the things you do.
Having the big picture, the wider knowledge, helps you do the small things better.
If you’re an accountant, for example, you will be a better accountant if you understand that some clients want to beat a competitor, while others want a comfortable life, and how they act will depend on what they want.
It’s not just about the numbers – it’s about them and what they want and need and if you get that you can help them more than if you just look at their numbers.
The mistake is thinking that you have to be one or the other, a generalist or a specialist.
That’s not the way to look at it.
Being a generalist is for you – it helps you be a better person because you see more and understand more.
Being a specialist is for others – you help someone who needs help with the specific thing they need help with.
And that’s why one pays and the other doesn’t.
Cheers,
Karthik Suresh
Handcrafted insight 