~ A "Letters from Silicon Valley" Series ~

Some people are so scattered in their interests, activities, and career that they never really apply themselves long enough to become excellent at anything. This scattering of time and energy doesn’t allow them to fully enjoy the rewards of their competence. On the other hand, I’ve noticed in Silicon Valley, and elsewhere, that often those who get ahead are the ones who are focused.

In my work in the Valley I’ve seen many companies, teams, and individuals fail or get bogged down, because of a lack of focus and trying to do too many things at once. For instance, at one tech-company, we had a very robust and aggressive product road map. The only problem was we tried to address too many markets with too many products and too few people and resources to execute our plans. In the end, the company failed to gain traction and was eventually sold for a fraction of what it had been worth in earlier days when it was focused on doing just a couple of things really well. 

An example of a positive experience was when I was at a different company, and we started a lot of projects that we hoped would become products. However, as projects failed, we started to lose people and money. Instead of continuing to overextend our project base, we concentrated on the project plan itself and developed a product portfolio decision making process. By utilizing key metrics, we could decide as an executive team if the project fit our strategy and could be funded. The effect was fewer projects were started but more winning products were produced, and the company became highly profitable.

Individuals also benefit from focus. A young and successful engineer I know attempted to learn everything there was to know about semiconductor design with the hope he could play every role on every team. Even though he was extremely intelligent and hardworking, his career stalled mid-way up the ladder. He became stuck as a “jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none." However, he focused on becoming the guru in one aspect of advanced semiconductor design that involved some very complicated physics. Once he became the expert in a detailed area, he was recognized by everyone as the most talented. Within this specialized and crucial aspect of semiconductor design, he excelled, was granted many patents, and rapidly reached the job level of Fellow, an honor and distinction, which is rarely attained by engineers. Now, his pay and position was the same level as a Vice President.

So, if you feel like you are stuck in your career, look to see if you are spread too thin. You just might find that you would benefit from increased focus. Maybe letting go of some activities that are taking up your time and energy will free you up to concentrate on something that you are particularly good at and interested in. By doing so, maybe you’ll find that your career takes off.

Go Ducks!

~ Humberto 


Contact:
humberto@chacon.us