This is a special post for quick takes by Willa. Only they can create top-level comments. Comments here also appear on the Quick Takes page and All Posts page.
Shortform #112 Golden handcuffs versus Competency handcuffs
If golden handcuffs is a situation where one is well compensated to the point of not feeling comfortable ever being less compensated than that and thus feels trapped in a job-related situation...I take competency handcuffs to be a situation where one is competent at something they realize they don't enjoy doing much but haven't yet figured out an existing competency they have or trained up another competency and thus feel trapped in a job-related situation. Bonus points for competent golden handcuffs, oof (though they do seem to generally go hand in hand, I think there can be situations where they are distinct phenomena).
Feeling a strong sense of the latter situation, personally.
It's difficult to disentangle my thoughts from said responses regarding #112, but the idea of competency handcuffs seems interesting to explore further at a later (and healthier) time. Competent Elites keeps coming up as a counterpoint when I try to think about the possibility of competency handcuffs. It's possible that competency is not specific enough for the phenomena I'm pointing at.
This is hard, because one may learn concrete, valuable skills from most any job, that build on & interact with each other in interesting ways. Clear & concise commu... (read more)