Peter Principle: Why most bosses are incompetent?

It is not your boss’s fault — and certainly not yours.

If you work better, you get appraised. You get promoted.

If you again prove yourself in your new position, then you’ll be promoted again.

You get promoted, because you aced in the current position.

What if someone stay in that position for a longer time — without getting promoted?

At some point the people are promoted until they find themselves in a position where their competency is not enough to do the justice to that position.

Different needs, same expertise

The new position needs new expertise. It may demand a new level of competency. Not the one you had before the recent promotion.

The lack of certain competence is found only when it is demanded.

Ultimately a person ends up in a position that he can’t manage with the expertise that he has now.

It’s not uncommon to find unfit bosses.

This theory is known as Peter’s principle.

The Peter Principle theorizes that employees in most organizational hierarchies automatically rise through promotion to higher positions. However, competent employees will be promoted, but will ultimately assume positions for which they are incompetent.

Sometimes promotions are a curse.


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