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The Peter Principle: FReeper Experiences
Investopedia ^ | 07-12-2019 | Adam Hayes

Posted on 07/12/2019 12:48:24 PM PDT by Textide

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The full Investopedia article is at the link near the title at the top of this post, but the gist of the idea is contained in those couple of paragraphs. I'm curious if FReepers have had a similar experience to my own that this is a real and probable condition in a stable organization. I understand that it is not predictable for a given worker, but generally, do you think this idea has merit?
1 posted on 07/12/2019 12:48:24 PM PDT by Textide
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To: Textide

‘Splains government employees..................


2 posted on 07/12/2019 12:51:28 PM PDT by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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To: Red Badger

It would seem to be especially pertinent to government employees.


3 posted on 07/12/2019 12:52:56 PM PDT by Textide (Lord, grant that I may always be right, for thou knowest I am hard to turn. ~ Scotch-Irish prayer)
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To: Textide

When a government agency screws up, they ask for, (and usually get,) more money and power.

It’s the Peter Principle on steroids.


4 posted on 07/12/2019 12:55:31 PM PDT by Fido969 (In!)
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“In other words, a front-office secretary who is quite good at her job looking and has a nice rack may thus be promoted to executive assistant to the CEO for which she is not trained or prepared for”
5 posted on 07/12/2019 12:55:36 PM PDT by dsrtsage (For Leftists, World History starts every day at breakfast)
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To: Textide

It’s extremely common in engineering. Some talented engineer might be a whiz at solving technical problems in complex systems — gotta reward that! Gotta promote that guy! Make him a Department Head!

So he gets promoted to manage a group of 25 people and shuffle papers all day, worrying about budget allocations, future staffing needs, and performance evaluations. It’s likely to be a bad fit. Meanwhile, the technical group just lost it’s top problem solver. Double ouch.


6 posted on 07/12/2019 12:55:45 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: Textide

I always laughed at the idea of a “Peter Principle”.

I don’t deny it exists so much as that it is inevitable to human skill and ability. As you advance, the challenges and necessary skills needed to master the work skyrocket or fail to apply. So as difficulty level rises with each promotion, people have to increase their skills. Not everybody can do that.

Trying to find the cream to rise to the top is not easy. You are trying to find people who have the potential to develop the skills to function competently at new challenges. Those people are few and far between. It is not easy to find them from the original pool of candidates that all have great skills for their current level before promoting.

I think it is just human nature, the bell curve of human skills and abilities, and the difficulty at predicting future returns from past performance.

I don’t have any problem with promoting people who then fail at their new job. I just wish we had a way in our culture to let them return to their old jobs they mastered and try a replacement candidate without labelling them a failure. There shouldn’t be any ego or insult to finding you can’t do the job a higher level, and there should be a way to gracefully return to your previous lower job where you excelled, without a stigma attached to it.


7 posted on 07/12/2019 12:59:46 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (What profits a man if he gains the world but loses his soul.)
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To: Textide

Add political correctness and affirmative action to The Peter Principle and you have the perfect storm that is too often a “senior government official”...

I give you the SLO chief of police who “forgot” her service weapon in a restaurant bathroom stall as Exhibit A...


8 posted on 07/12/2019 1:01:32 PM PDT by elteemike (Light travels faster than sound...That's why so many people appear bright until you hear them speak)
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To: Textide

What is the name of the principle that all the dull-witted, scaredy-cats band together in organizations against innovation and excellence? There is a deep-state in corporations too.


9 posted on 07/12/2019 1:04:47 PM PDT by King Moonracer (Tag, you're it.)
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To: Textide

Democrat politicians refute the Peter Principle.

They are proof that you can be promoted many levels above your competency, not just one.


10 posted on 07/12/2019 1:05:37 PM PDT by oldbill
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To: Textide

I was a living example of the Peter Principle in action during my career. I thrice failed as a manager but excelled as a cubicle number cruncher. Despite having desired educational creditentials, I can look back in retirement and see that I did not have the psychological makeup to be able to effectively direct the activities of others to achieve goals. I freely admit I was too emotionally soft to hold people accountable. I achieved my highest level of mediocrity but thrived in levels of less responsibility.


11 posted on 07/12/2019 1:05:48 PM PDT by buckalfa (Earth First ! We Will Strip Mine The Other Planets Later !)
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To: Textide
Peter Principle.

"The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence". In other words, an employee is promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another."

There are lots of folks in the "DC establishment" that are excellent examples of the Peter Principle at work. Nancy Pelosi, Gerald Nadler and Diane Feinstein are three that come to mind. Note all of these are elderly and none of them, IMHO, are at the top of their game.

Another example is AOC who should still be tending bar.

12 posted on 07/12/2019 1:06:11 PM PDT by upchuck (No muzzy is fit to hold public office - their cult (religion) is incompatible with the Constitution.)
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To: Textide

It does and I know it does because I’m a product of it. I was recently promoted from a job that I loved and was very good at. I was considered an Subject Matter Expert and having done that job for several years and absolutely killing it, I “earned” myself a promotion I neither applied for or even wanted. Now, I’m in a role I’m not trained for and I’m struggling to find my footing.
I can’t go back to my old role because it’s been filled by another guy who is struggling and calls me all the time for advice. He’s going to to tank no matter how much I try to help him because he just isn’t into the job. He hates it. So, here I am. Sitting in a chair I don’t want and will never leave messing around on Freerepublic in the middle of the day which is something I never did in the past.


13 posted on 07/12/2019 1:09:15 PM PDT by Mathews (Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV), Luke 22:36 (NIV))
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To: Textide
They all take the bureaucratic oath:

"If it ain't broke, fix it til it is."

14 posted on 07/12/2019 1:09:27 PM PDT by bankwalker (Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Exactly. People who are very competent technically and productive do NOT necessarily make good managers.


15 posted on 07/12/2019 1:10:04 PM PDT by RatRipper
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To: elteemike

Yes I wonder about the police chief of San Luis Obispo.

I wonder what discipline or sanctions would be applied to any of her officers who were so careless with their weapon.

And I wonder if she is going to face the same sanctions or discipline herself.

Somehow I doubt she will face those sanctions.


16 posted on 07/12/2019 1:10:42 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: bankwalker

That’s a great quote!


17 posted on 07/12/2019 1:12:49 PM PDT by Textide (Lord, grant that I may always be right, for thou knowest I am hard to turn. ~ Scotch-Irish prayer)
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To: ClearCase_guy

This is why I’ve studiously avoided management.


18 posted on 07/12/2019 1:15:14 PM PDT by null and void (The Left isn't banning "Hate Speech", they are banning speech they hate. BIG difference.)
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To: Mathews

Management=more money. You’re in a tough spot there though. Good luck!


19 posted on 07/12/2019 1:16:05 PM PDT by Textide (Lord, grant that I may always be right, for thou knowest I am hard to turn. ~ Scotch-Irish prayer)
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To: Textide

Obama is the epitome of this principle. The man had zero skills or talents other than looking and sounding good while reading from a teleprompter. Even his NCAA basketball brackets, the one thing other than the destruction of America which seemed to get him enthused, mostly sucked.


20 posted on 07/12/2019 1:16:29 PM PDT by thoughtomator (The Clinton Coup attempt was a worse attack on the USA than was 9/11)
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