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1-Page Summary of The Peter Principle

Introduction

When Laurence J. Peter was a new teacher, he noticed that no one seemed to be doing their job properly. Instead of ensuring the consistent quality of teaching, the principal focused on keeping classrooms quiet and rose beds looking tidy. The superintendent wanted to make sure paperwork was filed on time rather than overseeing schools in the district.

Peter was disappointed with the lack of focus on education in his school district. He applied to work somewhere else, but when he did, the post office required him to register the application and send it back again. They said that they wanted to make sure it would get there safely even though it already had arrived safely.

Peter realized that many organizations seem to be run by people who are incompetent. This undermines their services and products, which renders them pointless. He began to study this phenomenon and develop his theory of incompetence, which has been a staple in business education ever since.

The Peter Principle is a principle that states that people will rise to their level of incompetence. People who are competent in a job will be promoted until they reach the point where they’re incompetent at the new position. An employee will continue to get promoted until he or she reaches his or her level of incompetence. If an employee is good at his job, there’s no guarantee he’ll be good at a higher-level one, and vice versa. The exception proves the rule because exceptions only look like exceptions—you can’t know whether someone who doesn’t fit this pattern actually belongs in another category. However, you can avoid reaching your own level of incompetence if you understand how promotions work and take steps to ensure you remain competent in your current role so actual work gets done instead of being bogged down by promotion politics.

Occupational Incompetence

In a hierarchical system, incompetent people tend to rise in the ranks. This is because they are promoted to positions that require competence until they reach a level where their incompetence becomes obvious. Peter believes this happens because of how promotions work within hierarchies: an employee who is competent at their job will eventually be promoted into a position requiring more competence, and so on until the employee reaches a point where he or she has no business being in charge.

With enough time, every employee will eventually rise to their level of incompetence. They won’t be promoted again once they reach that position, as they’ll no longer be competent enough to move up in the ranks. This means that all positions will eventually be filled by incompetent employees. Some of these employees are still competent and do real work; however, others aren’t able to perform well at their jobs because they’re not very good workers yet.

The Peter Principle is a theory that states that in most hierarchies, every employee tends to be promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. The joke was named after Laurence J. Peter (1919-90), who wrote about the principle in his book “The Peter Principle” published in 1969. However, it’s not just an office thing; it applies to all types of organizations and institutions as well. It essentially shapes how civilization works.

The Pull and Push of Promotion

When people get promoted to positions above their skill level, they will eventually become incompetent. However, this process can be accelerated by a relationship with someone higher up in the hierarchy. It could be familial or it could just be a friendship or acquaintanceship. We all know someone who got promoted because of their connections rather than their skills. This technique is not very popular with other employees but it works and that’s why people use it.