The Goose And The Horse – A Fable From Boccacio and Chaucer
“A Goose, who was plucking grass upon a common, thought herself affronted by a Horse who fed near her, and in hissing accents thus addressed him.
‘I am certainly a more noble and perfect animal than you, for the whole range and extent of your faculties is confined to one element.
I can walk upon the ground as well as you; I have besides wings, with which I can raise myself in the air; and when I please, I can sport in ponds and lakes, and refresh myself in the cool waters:
I enjoy the different powers of a bird, a fish, and a quadruped.’

The Horse, snorting somewhat disdainfully, replied,
‘It is true you inhabit three elements, but you make no very distinguished figure in any one of them.
You fly, indeed; but your flight is so heavy and clumsy, that you have no right to put yourself on a level with the lark or the swallow.
You can swim on the surface of the waters, but you cannot live in them as fishes do; you cannot find your food in that element, nor glide smoothly along the bottom of the waves. And when you walk, or rather waddle, upon the ground, with your broad feet and your long neck stretched out, hissing at every one who passes by, you bring upon yourself the derision of all beholders.
I confess that I am only formed to move upon the ground;
but how graceful is my make!
how well turned my limbs!
how highly finished my whole body!
how great my strength!
how astonishing my speed!
I had far rather be confined to one element, and be admired in that, than be a Goose in all.’”

This fable pops into my mind whenever I hear someone pitching their multi-faceted startup.
You can understand their intentions; taking a good idea and strengthening it with two or three other good ideas.
Except…that’s not how good ideas tend to work.
As Dave Trott says, welding an excavator to a Ferrari doesn’t make a machine that can dig roads at 200mph.
It makes something that can’t do either job properly.

It’s a tough balance: going the extra mile is a great way to differentiate your offering, but adding too many extras reduces your ability to do them to a high standard.
Part of the challenge is that the founder knows they could do each element well, but they won’t have to attention and energy to do them simultaneously.
Some examples include:
·      Developing a custom app
·      Starting a podcast
·      Adding a café to another business unit
·      Hosting live events
·      Creating a company blog
·      Offering the lowest prices
Each of these are potentially great concepts, but not if they’re starved of resources and the founder’s oversight.
They’re expensive to do well.

Generalists vs Specialists
Here’s where it gets interesting – what constitutes good advice for your business can be terrible advice for your career, and vice versa.
The horse is the specialist and the goose is the generalist, and the specialist earns the most admiration.
For your business, admiration is what entices new customers, keeps people coming back, invites you into new partnerships and allows you to charge a premium.
Admiration is your competitive advantage.

For your life and career, admiration in one field may not lead to lasting satisfaction.
Creativity comes from making connections between fields, so the generalist makes more innovative combinations than the purist who has only ever known one way of working.
Examples include:
·      An understanding of marketing and consumer psychology
·      The ability to add humour to your writing
·      Thinking like an engineer about problem solving
·      Being an empathetic listener
·      A basic knowledge of contract law
·      Creative outlets like drawing or acting

On top of that, the generalist enjoys a wider range of experiences.
The goose might not be elegant, but he probably has more interesting weekends.

That leads to another interesting question: is it more important to work in a specific field, or to be celebrated?
We’d love to have both, but if there’s a trade-off, which option will you pick?
Do you want to make a career in music, or do you only want to sing if it’s in a packed stadium?
Do you want to run a café, or do you want to be known as the coolest café in your area?
Are you happy to work in anonymity?

Specialist Investments
What separates these two conflicting strategies is the required investment.
Any time a business enters a new field, it makes a large investment; in cash, time, opportunity cost, reputational risk and mental bandwidth.
If these are well executed, the investment pays dividends, in the form of sales, assets, brand awareness and admiration.
If these are undercooked, then they lead to frustration, disappointment and financial loss.
Putting in half the required effort doesn’t give you half of the expected results.

In your life and career, trying something new involves an incredibly small investment – you can dabble in a range of fields without risking your personal wealth or your good name.
The difference is that having a personal interest in a particular area doesn’t mean you should make it your business.
A love of designer clothes doesn’t help you run your own boutique.
Making the leap from hobby to investment can work if you put in a tremendous amount of work and attention.
Jared Leto might be famous for his acting as well as 30 Seconds To Mars, but this comes through incredible commitments to each field.
You could imagine the same applying to Rihanna with Fenty, Kanye with Yeezy, Elon with SpaceX and Tesla.
They’re not “splitting their time”, they’re working two full-time jobs at once.
Their new ventures might have started as a personal interest, but they were boosted by a serious investment of resources.

Double Specialisations
In the book Tools of Titans, Scott Adams (who created Dilbert) outlines his recipe for a successful career:
“If you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:
1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.
The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility.
Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album.
I don’t recommend anyone even try.
The second strategy is fairly easy.
Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort.
In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist.
And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people.
The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes.
It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare.
And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.
I always advise young people to become good public speakers (top 25%).
Anyone can do it with practice.
If you add that talent to any other, suddenly you’re the boss of the people who have only one skill.
Or get a degree in business on top of your engineering degree, law degree, medical degree, science degree, or whatever.
Suddenly you’re in charge, or maybe you’re starting your own company using your combined knowledge.”

There’s great wisdom to this advice; combining two strengths can give you a unique advantage in the marketplace.
The crucial aspect is the top 25% - it’s achievable but not on autopilot.

If you’re designing a new business model, my recommendation is to either:
A) Start out like the horse – limited and elegant
B) Combine two strengths to a high standard, rather than being a goose across the board