Depth pursuit
Everyone who stays in a line of work long enough becomes good at it. What happens next divides careers. Some hold that standard and spend their energy on other things. Others keep raising the bar in at least one thing for decades, whether or not anyone asks them to.
| End | Letter | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Competence | C | You reach a solid standard and hold it |
| Mastery | M | In at least one thing, you keep going past competence towards mastery |
Both ends start at the same moment, the point where you have become solidly good at something. A Competence career holds that standard and puts its energy elsewhere, into more roles, more environments or more of life outside work. A Mastery career keeps raising the bar in at least one thing, year after year.
For example, a bookkeeper who learned the job in two years and has done it well ever since has a Competence career. So does a GP who has run the same practice for twenty years with no wish to go further. But a violinist who still practises scales after thirty years in an orchestra has a Mastery career. So does a plumber who keeps studying new systems long after being good enough to keep every customer. So any profession allows both, and which end you are at shows in what you do once you are good at it.
Each gains what the other gives up.
Competence
Gains
Work that fits the need. A Competence career judges how good the work has to be, and delivers that.
Reliable across the board. Everything is done to a solid standard, with few weak spots.
No unpaid years. Pay keeps pace with effort, with no long stretch of extra work before it pays back.
Easy to place. Many employers need this work, so it is easy to find.
Costs
Rarely the best in the room. The work is sound, and the standard is someone else's.
Out of depth on the hardest cases. When a problem goes past the usual, it goes elsewhere.
Passed over for the top jobs. Senior posts often go to careers that pushed further.
Easier to replace. Others can do this work, so its hand is weaker.
Mastery
Gains
Sets the standard. Its best work is the work others compare their own with.
Trusted with the hardest cases. When the work is difficult, it is sent here.
A route to the top jobs. Senior posts often go to careers that pushed for mastery, and pay and titles follow.
Hard to replace. Few can do this work, which strengthens its hand in any negotiation.
Costs
Slow to call it finished. The bar keeps rising after the work would have served.
Uneven outside the speciality. Outstanding at one thing, it can be ordinary at the rest.
Effort ahead of the pay. Years of extra effort come before any premium, and for some it does not come at all.
Few places need that much. The level reached is more than most employers pay for, so the right posts are scarce.
Coming soon
Which of the sixteen types fits you?
The scan shows the career you've had. The trait test, which I'm building now, shows which of the sixteen types fits who you are, and how far your career is from that type.
You are on the list as . Look in your inbox for the first email.
Our signup is not answering just now. This opens the newsletter's own signup page, with your address filled in.
Get early access (opens the newsletter signup page in a new tab)Free. You get the trait test first, plus the newsletter on the shape of careers. Leave any time. Privacy
Where you sit on it says nothing about how good you became. That is why a serious attempt at mastery that fell short still counts as Mastery, and a natural talent who stopped trying once competent still counts as Competence.
Competence is no small thing. In many professions it is the basis of trust, because it means you can be counted on to do the work safely and consistently. And some roles offer little room to go further, because the work is repetitive, simple or gives no feedback. In those roles a Competence career is a feature of the work and says nothing about the person.
The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition describes the steps between the two ends.1Dreyfus, H. L. and Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer. Free Press. The five stages and the claim that rule-following stops at competence are theirs. The cooking column is this page's illustration, not theirs. In its account, following rules takes a person as far as competence. Going further takes judgement, practised in situations that do not repeat, with feedback on the results. Here it is with cooking.
Dreyfus, H. L. and Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer. Free Press. The five stages and the claim that rule-following stops at competence are theirs. The cooking column is this page's illustration, not theirs.
- Novice
What it looks like: Follows fixed rules, slowly, without reading the situation
In the kitchen: Follows the recipe exactly, whatever the ingredients or the oven
- Advanced beginner
What it looks like: Starts to notice cues and applies simple rules of thumb
In the kitchen: Turns the heat down when the oil smokes
- Competent
What it looks like: Sets goals and plans, and tends to stick to the plan
In the kitchen: Decides to sear before roasting, for flavour and timing
- Proficient
What it looks like: Sees what the situation needs and chooses how to respond
In the kitchen: Tastes that the sauce lacks acidity and picks lemon over vinegar
- Expert
What it looks like: Responds fluently, without deliberating
In the kitchen: Creates or adjusts a dish on the spot from taste and context
- 1
Dreyfus, H. L. and Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer. Free Press. The five stages and the claim that rule-following stops at competence are theirs. The cooking column is this page's illustration, not theirs. ↑