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The Individual Contributor Trap

June 27, 2007 |

Companies say that their biggest asset is their people – something that is ironic, as assets are things with a price tag on it and can be traded or exchanged as needed. Companies depend mostly on the hard work of two groups of people: the Individual Contributors and top level management (Executive VPs and CEO). The Individual Contributors depend heavily on the company for a salary – to pay their paycheck to paycheck living. The top level management not necessarily depends on the company – they can move to other companies for a comparable or better salary. Top level management depend mostly on their own decisions: if they are successful, the company does well and pays big bonuses; otherwise they get compensated in an almost mediocre way.Being an Individual Contributor is not bad. You get to get all the benefits, and little responsibilities. Sure, you still have to do everything you are told to do, but you do not pay a big price for bad decisions. Management does.

What about all the Managers, Directors, and junior Vice Presidents? They are in the gray zone. They are the sacrificial lamb (or scapegoat) when things go badly, and they have to work hard to get a few bonuses that will grant them a better compensation than their older individual contributors. They have little power to do anything, and although their rewards are based on performance, they rarely double their base salary. Many are competing for their position, and politics is a difficult game. Furthermore, if they do not align themselves well to politics and company objectives they risk remaining in such high stress position for ever, without moving up the totem pole into the Executive level. And reaching that “Executive Team” level is their only objective – otherwise they might as well had remained on the Individual Contributor role and saved a lot of stress.

Where is the trap? The trap happens about 4 to 5 years into your career as an individual contributor. You have got through your “Junior” and “Senior” years. It is now time to choose which career path you take: either you try to jump into a low level Manager position or you just try to continue into the “Principal”, “Consulting”, “Guru” and “God” levels of the Individual Contributor role. Go into management and you have a chance to get to the Executive level. Go into the upper levels of the Individual Contributor role and you earn the chance to spend your next 20 years at the same role with miserable salary increases from year to year (at least after you get to the “God” level).

When do you find out you fell into the trap? You find out a few years after you take that “wrong turn”. Now you are into the “Consulting” level with little documented management experience. Trying to get management experience means accepting a “Manager” position; which probably pays less than the “Consulting” level of the Individual Contributor role. You can do it, but it is not fun to go backwards in compensation. You feel trapped. Dammed if you downgrade, and dammed if you don’t.

How to get out of the trap? I do not know this answer. I can only imagine that you should start your own business, and generate some management experience of your own. If you are lucky you get acquired and “downgraded” to Vice President of some kind, giving you a shot at the “Executive Team”. Worst case, you have a lot of fun at your own place. Best case, you get rich doing something you enjoy. Either way, it may be a lot better than being trapped.

Know other ways out of the trap?


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