>> Hamstring me by not giving me the tools I need, make the barrier to accomplishment too much, or give me really boring work without some kind of clear path, a

>> Hamstring me by not giving me the tools I need, make the barrier to accomplishment too much, or give me really boring work without some kind of clear path, and I lock up. I'd like to point out that, at least in the first two cases, the workplace is hoping you will lock up and the system is functioning as intended. This isn't a shortcoming on your part. If you still feel compelled to be productive in those instances then a fun game is to dig into your employer's policy/security/IT hoops in order to identify the hidden workarounds in which you can get stuff done.