Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
It was discussed as a theory explaining why incompetent managers exist, stating that employees tend to be promoted to their level of incompetence, where they remain.
The Peter Principle states very simply that in any hierarchy, an employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
— Episode: 495. Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?
Episode: 495. Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?
It was discussed as a theory explaining why incompetent managers exist, stating that employees tend to be promoted to their level of incompetence, where they remain.
The Peter Principle states very simply that in any hierarchy, an employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
In any organization where competence is essentially eligibility for promotion and incompetence is a bar to promotion, people will rise to the level of incompetence and tend to stay there.
It's that people rise to the level of their incompetence, which I find is a bit cruel sounding,
because one could also say that people rise to their ceiling of competence, right? And then maybe they're not as good at that.