You seem to be conflating 'competitive' with being highly competent. In my experience, it's not necessary to be competitive, but pursuing a high level of compe

You seem to be conflating 'competitive' with being highly competent. In my experience, it's not necessary to be competitive, but pursuing a high level of competence IS quite important. Yes, doing just enough to pass a day will likely affect your career. Having said that - being a generalist can be a skill all on it's own. Having the meta-ability to pick something up quickly and doing useful work with your new knowledge can be a highly useful skill, especially if you are working on smaller teams.