# brain drain (trap)

*Ordinarily means:* the loss of skilled people from a place or organization

the upper wall of the talent window drifts inward as the most skilled members exit, narrowing the range of capability and leaving the remaining members confined to a lower-skill state despite any compensation to stay

- Computed level: L22 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: emergence

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [trap](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-trap.undesirable), [keep](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-keep.maintenance)

**Through:** drift lowers the upper wall of the talent window, narrowing its range and trapping the remaining talent

**Novel properties:**
- upper capability erosion

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-brain-drain.trap*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-brain-drain.trap.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*