Concepts to Know: The Peter Principle
Posted in Leadership, Professional on 07. Sep, 2009
Have Your Reached Your Level of Incompetence?
A principle often heard in business environments, the Peter Principle was the title of a 1968 book by authors Dr. Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull. In it, they humorously explain the seemingly pervasive presence of incompetence in managerial ranks.
The principle states:
“In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.”
This, they explain, is primarily due to the fact that competent employees generally receive promotions until they reach a point at which they cannot do their job effectively–their level of incompetence. As a result, it’s only the individuals that are still moving up a hierarchy that can actually perform their assigned work effectively.
The Peter Principle is worth knowing because of both the frequency and the implications of its use. Asserting that something (or someone) is an example of the Peter Principle is another way of implying–not so indirectly–incompetence.
The Dilbert Principle is an extension of the Peter Principle. In it, Scott Adams (cartoonist of Dilbert fame) observes that managerial incompetence isn’t always an unintended side-effect of a system that otherwise promotes competence. He suggests that some managers are promoted not because they are competent, but specifically because they are incompetent. In promoting an incompetent person, senior managers are able to simultaneously avoid the hassle of letting someone go and remove someone from the tactical level in which they can do the most damage. Essentially, the thought is that a manager doesn’t have to actually DO anything that could cause harm–they only have to be able to handle the bureaucratic responsibility of overseeing those who can actually perform their jobs.
-tg
You can read more about the Peter Principle and the Dilbert Principle here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peter_Principle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dilbert_Principle
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