Debunking myth of executive multitasking

One of the biggest business fallacies of our time is the premise that modern, successful executives must be able to multitask.

They do not. They cannot.

“Only fools try to multitask. If you think you can multitask, you don’t understand the limits of human attention,” says Richard Cytowic, professor of neurology at George Washington University, author and contributing columnist for Psychology Today. “The quickest way to get through your to-do list — and do it well — is by handling one thing at a time. To do two things at once is to do neither well.”

Jim Kacmarcik agrees. And he should know.

It’s difficult to imagine a Wisconsin executive with a busier, more complex and diverted executive calendar than Kacmarcik. It took months to negotiate the time and the terms for an interview for this column.

For the moment, ponder Kacmarcik’s plethora of roles, responsibilities, obligations and demands for his time:

He is the owner and president of Kapco Inc., a Grafton-based metal fabricating and stamping company.

He is the owner and president of Advanced Coatings Inc. in West Bend and Oshkosh.

He is the majority owner of the Lakeshore Chinooks baseball team in Grafton.

He is the owner and president of SpeedKore Performance Group in Grafton.

He is the founder and president of Hometown Heroes, a Grafton summer camp for children who have lost loved ones in the armed services.

He is the owner of K-Nation Entertainment in Grafton.

He is the co-owner of Given Entertainment in Nashville.

He is a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. On any given day, Kacmarcik might be signing off on the engineering for a new metal component at Kapco or paint process at Advanced Coatings. In the next moment, he might be making a decision on signing a player for the Lakeshore Chinooks. Later, he could be helping advance the career of a songwriter or recording artist in Nashville.

The point is … he will do all of these tasks — one at a time. His assistants will help him move from one ap-

pointment to the next.

“On any given day, I really don’t know what I’m doing the next day until it happens. My mind is switching from one gear to the next,” Kacmarcik says.

Kacmarcik says hiring highly effective team leaders enables him to delegate the multitude of tasks across his diverse portfolio of ventures.

“When you have so many people asking for your time, I try to get leaders to tell me what they would do,” he says. “I consider myself a generalist, and I hire specialists and listen to them. There’s no doubt, when you have so many moving parts, you do have to prioritize. They have to be able to carry on and have the knowledge and strength to do so.”

Still, most days don’t go exactly how they’re scripted on his calendar.

“It’s a lot of networking. All of my teammates know there are times when I have to audible and reschedule. Every day is a new day,” Kacmarcik says. “Every day can be profoundly different than the next.”

Kacmarcik offers five keys for successfully juggling multiple businesses and roles:

1 Build a foundation. “I don’t do it alone. In order for each business to be successful, it’s critical to have a strong team to collaborate with, explore new ideas and execute on key priorities. I strive to hire the best people, who are ambitious, with a strong work ethic,” he says.

2 Pursue passion. “The success of Kapco has provided opportunities to pursue and build successful businesses in areas I am truly passionate about — automobiles, sports, entertainment and philanthropy. When I pursue a new endeavor — I go all in. The businesses I have started are not hobbies; they take a lot of work and perseverance to succeed,” he says.

3 Seize opportunity. “When I see an opportunity with high potential, our teams do what we need to secure it. From the very beginning, this meant buying critical equipment at the right time through auctions to grow our capabilities or acquiring businesses at an opportune time,” he says.

4 Give back. “It’s not enough to have business success. I thrive on giving back to our community and providing employees with benefits beyond a paycheck so that they may lead positive and fulfilling lives,” he says.

5 Enjoy the ride. “While my days are long and expectations are high — I truly love what I do and approach every opportunity with purpose and passion. At Kapco, we work hard and play hard — whether it’s a game of sheepshead over lunch or enjoying a cookout at our campus,” he says.

Steve Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. C-Level stands for high-ranking executives, typically those with “chief” in their titles. Send C-Level column ideas to him at steve.jagler@journalsentinel.com.