Careers aren’t ladders, they’re quilts

At work, we still talk about careers like they’re ladders. As if success must be a straight line upward: more responsibility, bigger title, better office.

But that old image isn’t just outdated. It can be harmful. Ladders come with an unspoken message: If you’re not climbing, you must be falling. If you experience job loss, the ladder metaphor makes you feel like you slipped off and can’t recover. If you take a step sideways, it makes you look like you stalled and aren’t motivated. If you change careers completely...