Uncomfortable Truths of Career Plateaus | Generated by AI
Question: What are some unpopular ideas about why people stall or plateau in their careers?
Answer:
Most career advice focuses on “working harder,” “networking more,” or “getting another certification,” but the real reasons people stall are often uncomfortable truths that few want to hear. Here are the most unpopular (yet frequently observed) ones:
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Mediocrity is comfortable and well-paid.
In large organizations (and even many startups past Series C), you can reach ~70–80th percentile performance and earn $200k–$500k+ while coasting. Most people unconsciously cap their ambition once the lifestyle is “good enough.” Stalling isn’t failure; it’s the rational choice once marginal effort no longer feels worth the marginal reward. -
Intelligence peaks early and matters less after ~30.
Raw cognitive horsepower gets you into the room, but past a certain level (roughly top 10–15%), further gains in IQ or processing speed yield almost zero career returns. The differentiators become grit, political skill, taste, and energy management — traits that are harder to fake and less socially rewarded to admit matter. -
Most people are conflict-avoidant and therefore politically incompetent.
They frame “not playing politics” as a virtue when it’s usually just fear of confrontation. The higher you go, the more your job is managing egos, killing bad ideas without killing relationships, and taking credit without being hated. People who stall often lack the stomach for this, not the talent. -
Charisma and storytelling ability trump competence at senior levels.
Executives don’t promote the smartest engineer; they promote the person who can make the leadership team feel smart and safe. Many technically brilliant people stall because they communicate like grad students instead of like missionaries. -
Having young children is the single biggest career derailment factor (especially for women, but increasingly for men too).
Energy is finite. 60–80-hour weeks are incompatible with being a highly involved parent. Most people lie to themselves (and others) about being able to “have it all” at the same time. The ones who keep climbing either outsource parenting aggressively or have exceptional partners/spouses who absorb the load. -
Laziness masquerading as “work-life balance.”
A surprising number of mid-career stalls come from people who quietly downshift to 30–35 hours a week while telling themselves (and their peers) they’re “burned out” or “prioritizing family.” Nothing wrong with that choice, but it’s rarely admitted as the real reason. -
They stopped learning hard things.
After ~7–10 years, most professionals only learn adjacent skills inside their comfort zone. The people who keep accelerating deliberately put themselves in roles where they’re mediocre again (new industry, new function, new company size). Most avoid that discomfort and slowly become overpaid relics. -
They’re boring.
Interesting people with wide interests, strong opinions, and memorable quirks get pulled upward by sponsors. Bland, “professional,” inoffensive personalities stall because no one feels strongly enough about them to fight for their promotion. -
Undiagnosed or unmedicated ADHD/depression/anxiety is rampant at mid-level and above.
Many plateaued “senior” people are running on 50–70% mental capacity because they’ve never addressed underlying issues. The ones who quietly get treatment (medication, therapy, etc.) often suddenly accelerate again.
The brutal summary: Most career stalls aren’t due to external barriers or lack of opportunity. They’re emergent properties of human nature optimizing for comfort, risk avoidance, and self-deception once the paycheck is no longer scary.
References:
- The Gervais Principle (Ribbonfarm)
- Mimetic Theory of Career Success – Erik Torenberg
- [Peter Principle Revisited – Various observations across tech/executive coaching circles, 2015–2025]