The Problem Solver's Trap

You know you're a problem solver when your bosses stop going to your peers and make you the de facto person for almost everything.

This is a two-edged sword.

They might be coming to you because you're efficient—too efficient—and have weak boundaries. Tasks flow to the path of least resistance, especially the sensitive ones: tight deadlines, high complexity, both. You're the person least likely to fail.

Meanwhile, your colleagues may be perfectly capable, but they're also good at being genuinely busy, projecting busyness, or delaying work until your boss decides it's easier to give it to you. Your speed and organization get mistaken for "not having enough to do"—not because you're underworked, but because you work faster.

This is why organizational fit matters.

You need an environment where optics and politics are minimal. One that values problem solvers by giving them freedom: to figure things out, do deep work, make mistakes, learn, fix them, and keep moving toward the objective.

In the wrong organization, your efficiency becomes a liability. In the right one, it's leverage.