The Peter Principle

The Peter Principle is the concept that a new employee typically start at a lower ranked job in a bureaucratic organization and if competent at that job the employee will get promoted to a higher ranked job. The employee will keep getting promoted until he reaches a position where he is not competent and there he will remain. Eventually all positions within the organization will be filled with people who are incompetent.

The idea of the Peter Principle was introduced in 1969 in a humorous book called the Peter Principle written by Canadian sociologist Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter. It has become a well-known theory but still many organizations and governments use this hierarchy model. The work in such organizations is all done by the people who have yet not reached a position where they are incompetent.

An example of the Peter Principle could be that you might start out as a cleaner in a department store. If you are doing your job well, are always on time and are always cheerful you might get promoted. If handling that position well you might get promoted again. This can go on until you reach a position where you are no longer competent. You might enjoy and be competent at working at the till but have no competence in being a manager. Once you reach a position where you are incompetent you will get no further promotions. You will be stuck in a job you are no good at and that you might not enjoy at all.

In short, the Peter Principle states that evolution systems tend to develop up to the limit of their adaptive competence.

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http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090331_822526.htm

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