I think this is actually a general pattern that happens in most knowledge worker careers, not only late in careers. Certainly when I was a career coach one of the key things I did to help people move up in their careers was to help them move a level up in their thinking.
I think one of the reasons that the particular meta-level up move that you’re talking about happens late in careers is that at that point people who are at the top of their careers basically don’t have another meta-level up they can move to understand their field—they’ve already made that move. So the only meta-level they can move to next is to apply the move to itself.
oh awesome I wasn’t actually familiar with that. So it fits the pattern of happening later in most careers (dated 1987? he would have been 60)
I think this is actually a general pattern that happens in most knowledge worker careers, not only late in careers. Certainly when I was a career coach one of the key things I did to help people move up in their careers was to help them move a level up in their thinking.
I think one of the reasons that the particular meta-level up move that you’re talking about happens late in careers is that at that point people who are at the top of their careers basically don’t have another meta-level up they can move to understand their field—they’ve already made that move. So the only meta-level they can move to next is to apply the move to itself.