A friend of mine explained it as "We rise to the level of our own incompetence". Start a job at level 1, do a good job, get a promotion/find a new job to rise to level 2. Repeat until suddenly, you were really good at doing X job, but just got promoted/moved to doing Y job and now you are struggling because it's not very related to what you did in the previous position that you were good at.

It makes sense at a certain level, and can explain why we get so many people in positions they don't seem suited for.

Because there is a limit to how valuable you are as an expert builder building. But being an expert builder usually means you are intelligent and thoughtful and logical. So if you combine your cabinet experience with those traits, you are a great candidate for project manager, where you can be paid more and provide more for your family.

It's not like they are forced into it. No shortage of people that turn down the chance to get into management.

> Because there is a limit to how valuable you are as an expert builder building.

That's rarely a thing. Most jobs pay is not correlated to the value it creates. Simple example is software development. Team of 10 can create product that generates millions every day, but their pay will not be correlated in any way with that revenue. Maybe a manager will get a bonus, but most of the money flows to the owners.