This has not been my experience - I have known a number of people that were in engineering and were asked to try sales and really enjoyed it. I've known fewer (

This has not been my experience - I have known a number of people that were in engineering and were asked to try sales and really enjoyed it. I've known fewer (only one that I can think of) that went the other direction. The best CEO I ever worked with had a real talent for getting people into the right jobs where they could be successful (which solves the "incompetent but nice" problem because "incompetent" is a function of the job they are being asked to do), which was sometimes a very different role than they originally signed up for. People stayed longer and were happier when they were in roles where they could be successful. It is unfortunate that many managers are hesitant to move people into different jobs than they originally signed up for. If the alternative is firing them because they aren't competent, finding a place where they can be successful is a much better option.