On Careers: Maps, Not Ladders

Why choices matter more than titles

I recently read a piece on Smashing Magazine about career paths for UX and product designers. It does something rare: it maps real career paths, instead of assuming everyone is heading for the same destination. Different directions. Different strengths. Different definitions of progress.

The article is framed around design roles, but the framing works well beyond its original context and says something different from how we usually talk about careers.

Because most people still think about careers as ladders. One direction. One axis. Up or down. Progress or stagnation.

It’s a convenient but misleading model.

Ladders assume that growth means moving upward into management. That responsibility naturally follows seniority. That the next step is obvious if you just wait long enough or perform well enough.

Over time, and often in hindsight, careers look less like a ladder and more like a map.

Maps have multiple directions. Side roads. Dead ends. Detours. Long stretches where nothing seems to happen, followed by sudden changes in direction. Two people can start in similar places and end up somewhere completely different, without either one being “behind.”

A map makes something else clear: different directions reward different strengths. Some people grow by going deeper, becoming exceptional at a craft. Others grow by connecting things, translating between disciplines. Some move closer to decisions, others closer to execution. These aren’t steps on the same ladder. They’re different routes.

This is why I often ask young, talented candidates a simple question in interviews: do you see yourself growing toward management or toward deeper specialization?

There’s no right answer. But there is a real difference. Each direction demands different skills, offers different kinds of satisfaction, and comes with different responsibilities. Being excellent at your craft doesn’t automatically prepare you to manage people. And being a good manager doesn’t mean you’re better than your team at doing their jobs.

Life usually makes this obvious sooner or later. Careers can progress in more than one direction, and not all of them look impressive on an org chart.

At some point, direction starts to matter. The choice doesn’t always look like a choice at the time, and it’s often made quietly or by default. Still, it shapes what comes next by determining how much room you have to act.

Over time, progress shows up as range and autonomy: the ability to take on harder problems, work with less supervision, and make trade-offs that actually move things forward. Sometimes that comes through leadership roles. Other times it comes from becoming the person others rely on when things get messy.

Maps also explain something ladders can’t: why careers rarely feel linear while you’re living them.

When you’re on a ladder, every step is predefined. On a map, you have to choose. You can go faster, slower, or sideways. You can backtrack. You can explore a direction that turns out to be wrong. That ambiguity isn’t a bug. It’s the price of optionality.

This is especially relevant early on. Many people feel anxious not because they’re stuck, but because they’re measuring themselves against an imaginary ladder that doesn’t fit their strengths or interests. They’re climbing someone else’s route.

A better question than “what’s the next level?” is “what direction am I actually moving in?”

Am I gaining depth or just repeating the same year of experience?
Am I learning how decisions get made, or only how tasks get executed?
Am I increasing the surface area of problems I can handle, or narrowing it?

Those are map questions, not ladder questions.

Good career paths are rarely obvious in advance. They’re understood over time, regardless of where you end up: managing teams, building products, advising others, or doing something harder to label.

So stop asking whether you’re moving up.

Ask whether you’re moving somewhere that makes sense for who you are, what you’re good at, and the kind of problems you want to spend your time on.

That’s how maps work.

Further reading: UX & Product Designer Career Paths — Smashing Magazine