What We Can Learn from The Story of David and Goliath: The Personal Goliath Detector

The Beginning of This Journey

Kijana has been thinking about the story of David and Goliath and how Kaizen is like the stone David defeats Goliath with, where businesses can hire Kaizen to solve their hardest, most valuable problems.

This, of course, led me down the journey of thinking more deeply about the story.

How tall was Goliath? (we don’t know for sure, but some sources say 9’-9" and anothers say 6’-9")

Does it really matter if we know for sure how tall Goliath was?

How many things in life have this quality, where knowing Goliath’s actual height, even matters?

The David (it wasn’t really David, but Elhanan) and Goliath story works precisely beacuse Goliath’s exact height does not matter. The measurment feels important, but it’s not the lever that changes the outcome. Hence, not the point of the story. This pattern shows up everywhere in our lives.

In most situations, we obsess over visible size when outcomes are driven by invisible leverage.

“Height” is just the proxy our brains latch onto.

And this is where my mind branched into 2 threads. One thinking about how this relates to business (fodder for another post) and another about how David’s decision making can be applied to one’s career.

Hence this post. This post is for my kids. You will inevitably be faced with career decisions and opportunities that, at first glance, look impressive, but might actually hurt you in the long run.

This is my attempt to help you think through those decisions.

How to Spot Career Traps Disguised as Opportunities

You’re going to face some big decisions - job offers that sound incredible, opportunities that look like they check all the boxes, paths that everyone else seems to think you should take.

Here’s the thing: not every tall opportunity is the right fight.

In your 20’s, you’ll probably be taking whatever you can get. But once you gain some experience, start thinking more strategically.

In the story, David didn’t accept Saul’s armor when offered because it was heavy and uncomfortable. I don’t know his true reasons for that decision. But in retrospect, that decision can be framed as refusing to fight someone else’s fight - or rather, refusing to play Goliath’s game. The same principle applies to career decisions.

When you’re presented with what looks like a massive career move, something that feels important and official, it might actually be a Goliath - something that looks impressive from the outside but slowly makes you misaligned with yourself.

This test helps you tell the difference.

Phase 1: Identify the Career “Height Signal”

First, name what’s being sold as the reason this is a good move.

Ask yourself:

  • What am I being told I should want here?
  • What would look impressive if I told someone else?

Common career height signals:

  • Compensation number
  • Title / scope
  • Company brand
  • Perceived stability
  • Prestige by association
  • “This is the next logical step”

⚠️ If the pitch starts with status, pause.

Phase 2: The Subtraction Test

Now remove the shiny part. Strip away what sounds good and ask yourself the harder question.

Ask: “If you remove the title / company name / pay bump, is this still the work I want to do?”

  • If yes → promising
  • If no → Goliath detected

This test exposes roles that are:

  • Ego scaffolding (making you look good to others)
  • Resume padding (checking a box for future opportunities)
  • Fear-driven safety plays (protecting you from something)

Real paths survive subtraction. If the work itself doesn’t excite you, the title won’t sustain you.

Phase 3: The Armor Fit Test

Just like Saul’s armor - not all protection helps you.

Ask:

  • What behaviors does this role require every day?
  • What personality traits does it reward?
  • What parts of me would be suppressed?

Red flags:

  • Requires constant performative certainty
  • Punishes curiosity
  • Rewards political navigation over problem-solving
  • Treats adaptability as risk

👉 If you have to become someone else to survive, it’s armor - not strength.

You’re not flexible if you can’t be yourself. You’re trapped.

Phase 4: Leverage vs Labor

This is where most people get trapped for years.

Ask: “Does this path amplify my judgment - or just consume my time?”

Indicators of leverage paths:

  • Decisions matter more than hours
  • You shape systems, not just operate them
  • Learning compounds (each experience makes the next one easier)
  • Your past experience keeps paying dividends

Indicators of labor traps:

  • Output is tightly coupled to hours (work more = produce more, always)
  • You’re a throughput constraint
  • Context resets every 6 - 12 months (you start from zero)
  • Experience is discounted, not compounded

Big roles often pay well but kill leverage. You’re trading your future optionality for today’s paycheck.

Phase 5: Trajectory Test (Not Outcome)

Don’t ask “Where does this land me?” That’s the wrong question because no one knows.

Ask instead: “Who does this turn me into after 3 years?”

Project forward:

  • What skills will be sharper?
  • What muscles atrophy?
  • What doors close quietly?

Watch out for:

  • Specialization that narrows options – You become a one-trick pony
  • Comfort that dulls edges – You stop pushing yourself
  • Prestige that traps you – You can’t leave without taking a perceived step down

Many Goliaths win by slow erosion, not sudden harm. You don’t notice you’re stuck until you try to move.

Phase 6: Dependency Scan

This is the quiet killer.

Ask:

  • Does my value depend on one company?
  • One manager?
  • One internal narrative?
  • One tool or platform?

The more centralized your dependency, the taller the Goliath. You’re not independent - you’re renting credibility.

Healthy paths increase:

  • Optionality (multiple choices available to you)
  • Transferability (your skills matter everywhere)
  • Narrative control (“I can explain my value anywhere, not just here”)

Phase 7: Energy Accounting (The Truth Serum)

This one is non-negotiable.

Ask: “Does this give me energy or require me to manufacture it?”

Pay attention to:

  • What you think about on Sunday nights
  • What you read for fun
  • What you explain to others unprompted
  • How you feel when you wake up thinking about Monday

You can fake competence. You can’t fake energy forever.

Goliath careers often pay you well to ignore this signal. They’ll give you money and status as long as you don’t ask yourself if you’re actually alive in the role.

Phase 8: The Refusal Test

The final test is uncomfortable but decisive.

Ask: “If I said no to this, what am I actually afraid of?”

Common answers:

  • Falling behind peers
  • Wasting my background
  • Disappointing someone
  • Losing safety
  • Looking foolish

Listen to these fears. They’re valid. But they’re not evidence.

Fear is not evidence. If the downside of “no” is mostly social or narrative - if it’s about what others will think, not what you’ll actually lose - you’re staring at a Goliath.

Personal Goliath Checklist

If 4 or more are true, pause hard:

  • The opportunity is framed primarily by status or pay
  • You can’t explain the work without the brand name
  • Success requires suppressing your natural way of thinking
  • The role rewards compliance over judgment
  • Your leverage decreases as responsibility increases
  • Optionality shrinks over time
  • You feel relief imagining it ending
  • You’re afraid to turn it down without a “better” reason

If you’re checking more than a few boxes, it’s not a career move. It’s a Goliath. And you already know what happens when you put on someone else’s armor.

The Reframe That Matters Most

The most dangerous Goliaths in careers are not hard jobs. They’re comfortable, prestigious, and slowly misaligned. They pay well. They impress people. And they gradually move you away from the person you want to become.

David didn’t refuse Saul’s armor because it was heavy.

He refused it because it made him fight someone else’s fight (this is me totally interpreting the story).

Your fight is the only one worth winning (this is my fatherly advice).

The moves that matter aren’t the ones that look biggest from the outside. They’re the ones that let you be yourself while you’re getting better (again, fatherly advice - I want you to be the best you).

Choose those. Say no to the rest.