The metaphor here will be tribal man, so perhaps “different hats” is not spot-on in that regard. Nonetheless, I am following up on my post from yesterday. How do you derive more enjoyment from your work (if it isn’t there already)?
One idea is to more fully engage the spectrum of our caveman instincts: to hunt, to trap, to put out fires.
In a typical job, you’re probably only doing one of those things. Salespeople hunt/trap, then they pass along the catch to someone else. Lawyers (often) put out fires. “We just closed deal X, pls paper asap,” is the kind of email I see frequently.
Most large businesses need people doing all of these things to survive. It’s probably difficult to appreciate the full scope of the business you’re in if you aren’t thinking broadly across mindsets. That is, working in the same tribal mindset all the time (even if the tasks differ and/or you enjoy it) is limiting. But it’s hard to be a star hunter and a star fireperson. Companies want deep domain expertise, not a bunch of utility people.
So there is this push and pull between being incentivized to go deep on certain skills, and wanting to experience more of your potential. Everyone will find their own balance, but it’s important to be mindful of this if you feel stuck or stressed, with nothing specific to pin it on.
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