摘要：Breadth of skills often overshadows depth of expertise.Being good at everything can make you indispensable but not promotable.Focu

The Curse of Competence

能力的诅咒

Being good at many things could keep you from being gresat at one.

擅长很多事情可能会阻碍你在某一件事上取得卓越成就。

Posted September 15, 2025 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

发布于 2025 年 9 月 15 日 | 加里·德雷维奇 (Gary Drevitch) 审阅

Breadth of skills often overshadows depth of expertise.Being good at everything can make you indispensable but not promotable.Focus, boundaries, and signaling expertise break the curse.

技能的广度通常会掩盖专业知识的深度。擅长所有事情可以让你变得不可或缺，但却无法获得晋升。专注、界限和信号专业知识打破了诅咒。

Rachel (not her real name) is the go-to person at work for everything, from helping you perfect your presentation, to unjamming the copier. She can get meetings with high-level people organized in record time, fix spreadsheets so that they make sense, mentor rising stars, and deliver presentations in a way that gets people motivated to take action. Everyone relies on Rachel because she’s so competent at so many different tasks. It’s almost as if she’s a specialist in everything.

Rachel（化名）是工作中不可或缺的人才，从帮助你完善演示文稿，到解决复印机卡纸问题，她都能帮你搞定。她能以创纪录的速度组织与高层的会议，修改电子表格使其更清晰易懂，指导新秀，并以激励员工采取行动的方式进行演示。每个人都信赖 Rachel，因为她在很多方面都非常出色。她几乎是所有领域的专家。

But despite her reliability, she feels overlooked for promotions or recognition. Sound familiar?

尽管她很可靠，但她感觉自己在晋升或认可方面被忽视了。这听起来很熟悉吧？

Why does being so good at so many things sometimes hold us back?

为什么我们在很多事情上都表现出色，但有时却会阻碍我们前进呢？

The Curse of Competence

能力的诅咒

Being highly capable across multiple domains often means you’re continually asked to do more. Everyone knows they can count on you to get things done right, the first time–on time and on budget (likely early and below budget).

在多个领域拥有卓越能力通常意味着你会被不断要求完成更多任务。每个人都知道，他们可以信赖你，确保第一次就按时、按预算（很可能提前完成且低于预算）完成任务。

But here lies the paradox: Your breadth of skills can overshadow the depth of your expertise. There is a competence bias: People equate “good at everything” with “indispensable where they are,” not “promotable to the next level.” They can’t lose you (meaning they can’t promote you) because if so, who would take over your tasks?

但这里存在一个悖论：你的技能广度可能会掩盖你专业知识的深度。这其中存在着一种能力偏见：人们将“样样精通”等同于“在现有职位上不可或缺”，而不是“可以晋升到更高级别”。他们不能失去你（也就是说他们不能提拔你），因为如果这样，谁来接手你的任务呢？

Organizations and leaders often pigeonhole “competent generalists” into support roles rather than leadership or visionary tracks. This leaves the overlooked high achiever in an emotional roller coaster where they have percolating feelings of stagnation, invisibility, or frustration despite high output. They’re doing all the work, but they made themselves too indispensable.

组织和领导者经常将“有能力的通才”归类为辅助角色，而不是领导或有远见的人才。这使得被忽视的高成就者情绪波动很大，尽管产出很高，却仍会感到停滞不前、被忽视或沮丧。他们做了所有的工作，但却让自己变得不可或缺。

Breaking Free From the Curse

摆脱诅咒

Just as you are talented enough to solve every crisis and handle every task, large and small, you can also take control of the narrative and change how you are perceived.

正如你有足够的天赋来解决每一个危机、处理每一项大大小小的任务一样，你也可以掌控叙事，改变别人对你的看法。

Do a Passion Audit. Just because you are good at many things, doesn’t mean you enjoy doing all of them. In fact, constantly putting out fires you never started will lead to burnout, disengagement, and ultimately resentment. Identify the 20% of work you love most and double down on it.

做一次激情审计。你擅长很多事情，并不意味着你喜欢做所有的事情。事实上，不断地扑灭那些你从未点燃的火花，会导致倦怠、倦怠，最终产生怨恨。找出你最喜欢的20%的工作，然后加倍努力去做。

Build a Mentoring Team. Seek a variety of mentors who help you resist overcommitment and push you toward specialization. Consider those who are senior to you, peers (or friendtors). and those junior to you.

组建导师团队。寻找不同类型的导师，帮助你避免过度承诺，并推动你走向专业化。你可以考虑你的资深导师、同事（或朋友），以及资历较浅的导师。

Set Boundaries. Politely decline tasks outside your growth zone. When asked to take on another responsibility, or serve on an additional committee, ask yourself if doing so will take you closer or further away from your goals.

设定界限。礼貌地拒绝超出你成长范围的任务。当被要求承担其他责任或在其他委员会任职时，问问自己，这样做会让你更接近还是远离你的目标。

Signal Expertise. Publicly share work, research, or case studies in your chosen niche. It’s not bragging if your goal is to help others. Show that you are the go-to person on a topic so that people know who to turn to for expertise and leadership.

展现你的专业技能。公开分享你所选领域的工作、研究或案例研究。如果你的目标是帮助他人，这并非吹嘘。展现你是某个领域的专家，这样人们就知道该向谁寻求专业知识和领导力。

Imagine if Rachel was great at many things but truly exceptional at one or two. Leadership would know how to categorize her and recognize which role would be perfect for her; it would no longer be ambiguous. Being capable at everything is admirable, but being remarkable at one is transformative.

想象一下，如果Rachel在很多方面都很优秀，但在一两方面确实出类拔萃。领导层会知道如何对她进行分类，并识别出哪个职位最适合她；一切都将不再模棱两可。样样精通固然令人钦佩，但在某一方面表现出色则会带来翻天覆地的变化。

来源：左右图史