"Other" on the org chart
I once had a peer whose group on the org chart was called "other."
His group was composed of all the things that did not fit cleanly into the product teams.
I have run "other" a few times. Of course, we never publicly called the groups "other" as that would be demotivating, but you can recognize if you are in an "other" group when the group name is a long phrase.
For example: "Quality, Data, and Services" is the kind of name that usually means "other”.
The key point for leaders is that trying to manage many different things is harder than managing one larger group of the same thing.
It was easier for me to manage 800 people working on the Amazon Appstore (one thing) than 200 people when they were doing six very different tasks.
The same thing is true in your work. If you have too many completely separate tasks it will be much harder than the same number of related tasks.
What is the solution for individuals and managers?
You must change your job to have focus, even if that means changing roles, reorganizing, or debating with your manager.
Or, have a small enough collection of "other" that it is doable. And don't let anyone judge you on the number of tasks rather than the variety and value.
Audience Insights
Additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience:
Some leaders name their groups with long names to make themselves look important because they have so many things. But it usually has the opposite effect.
Breadth and flexibility are valued. And a valueable management skill is developing the ability to lead functions you yourself cannot perform. This is where great hiring and development of talent comes in.
Share this article with your peers and inside your workplace if you find it valuable.
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Level Up is a newsletter from retired Amazon Vice President Ethan Evans that breaks down how he succeeded and how you can get to the next level.
Once as a consultant worked with several client teams and one of them was the Others team, exactly how you described. I motivated them by telling them that if they called Others, it didn't mean that they were not important, and they needed to prove it. They ended up being the highest-performing team. But your main point about focus is so true!