You bring up some good points Andrew. It's an interesting topic.. ICs career in the corporate world. In most companies the level contribution is the guiding factor for compensation. Managing people is apparently often valued higher than deep expertise, because thats the thing that keeps the wheels spinning. If your craft doesn't scale with the value you crate to the firm, your career will stagnate. As someone with similar feelings about people management as Carolann, I found the solo move to suit my ambitions.