importance of getting multidisciplinary exposure.
Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, supports the importance of experimenting with different positions in different departments: "Don’t underestimate the importance of getting multidisciplinary exposure. Most people get worried when they have to make those jumps. I’ve had a career at Novartis where I’ve worked in commercial areas and marketing areas—so most of my time in R&D worked across four different areas of the business—and so with that diversity of experiences it enables you to make the right decisions” (Narasimhan et al., 2021). Changing roles to see the big picture can help us discover where we perform best. Doing so is not just a “nice to have” but will soon be a “must-have.” Many of us will be forced to—in the next decade, over one hundred million workers may need to switch occupations (Meakin, 2021).
Narasimhan, Vas, Jorge Conde, Vijay Pande, and Sonal Chokshi. “a16z Podcast: The Science and Business of Innovative Medicines.” January 13, 2019. Podcast, MP3 audio, 59:02.
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