Broad > Deep: Rethinking Competency

From client server days to today’s cloud native world, I’ve seen how teams were built around deep specialization with only the architect holding the broader view.

But the landscape has changed. It’s no longer enough for just one role to see the big picture. We now need 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁, and 𝗤𝗔 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗽 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀.

Depth still matters, 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

This is not new, Indian wisdom has long celebrated the “𝗦𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮” a person of many virtues. Today’s workplace calls for the same: not generalists, but professionals who can bridge domains, embrace uncertainty, and lead with empathy.

𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹.

When engineers think design, finance speaks product, and HR enables strategy the lines blur beautifully. That’s where innovation thrives.

Let’s nurture breadth without losing depth. Because in today’s world, 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁.