Peter Principle Models

The Peter Principle was first introduced in an article written by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in the January 1967 issue of Esquire magazine. It struck a chord among American office-dwellers. Following
the response to the article, Peter, with the help of writer Raymond Hull, wrote the book, "The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong."
Although the book presents its ideas humorously -- using cartoons, funny anecdotes and elaborate terminology for office foibles, like the insistence of some workers to maintain a clean desk -the Peter Principle uncovers a real flaw in the structure of hierarchies.
A hierarchy is one way a company can be organized. In this type of composition, work is spread out in a pyramid shape, with lots of regular employees doing the largest amount of the work
completed. Above them are supervisors, then management and so on until the top of the pyramid is reached in the form of the CEO, chairman, owner or president.
Many companies prefer to promote from within their hierarchy. In theory, employees promoted from within are already familiar with the inner workings of the companies and have a good grasp
on the company's goals. But the Peter Principle reveals a problem with internal promotions.
As a person continues his path of promotion, he's eventually promoted right out of his field of expertise and into a position where he's utterly and helplessly incompetent. A Web designer, for
example, can excel at his work, and as a reward for his effort and skill might be promoted to director of the Internet technology department. In this position, he could flounder. His skills at
designing will, of course, come in handy. But there'll also be added duties -- like hiring and firing employees, motivating workers and dealing with a budget -- for which the promoted Web
designer could be unqualified.
At the point where his level of incompetence is reached, an employee's promotional trajectory usually ends, and he's stuck in a position where he no longer has confidence in his abilities and
produces less work for the company than he did in the position in which he excelled. The problems created by this promotion are compounded by the idea that an incompetent manager will
make incompetent decisions -- including deciding who to promote. Eventually, says the Peter Principle, the higher levels of a bureaucracy become populated entirely by incompetent people.
Once an employee reaches his level of incompetence, in general, he won't be fired from the position, unless he's what Dr. Peter dubs a "super-incompetent" -- a person who's actually defined
by his mistakes. Instead, the promoted employee is usually mediocre in his new position. He's able to cover up his incompetence and spends a lot of time doing just that. Most hierarchies don't
have a fail-safe that includes demoting a person who isn't qualified for a position. The employee is usually left alone or fired.
Since the bulk of the productivity within the company is generally carried out by the regular employees who form the base of the hierarchical pyramid, companies can operate indefinitely, so
long as the incompetence of the higher levels doesn't present itself through catastrophic decisions.
In the next section, we'll look at other interpretations of the Peter Principle.

A summary of the learning from The peter principle and the book Why Things Go Wrong.
The presentation describes the peter principle and the management and communication insight from Dr.Laurence J. Peter's work.

Transcript

1. Why things go wrongor the peter principle revisited

Author : Dr Laurence J. Peter
2. A presentation by

3. About Dr. Laurence J Peter(September 16, 1919 - January 12, 1990)

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American Psychologist
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4. Teacher
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5. Consultant
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6. Experience of working in prisons and children
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7. Authored Peter principle with Raymond Hull in 1968
How did the principle originate ?
The Peter Principle was first introduced in an article written by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in the January 1967 issue of Esquire magazine
It struck a chord among American office-dwellers
With the help of writer Raymond Hull
wrote the book, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong
8. Peter Principle
In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence
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Uncovers a real flaw in hierarchies
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9. Companies prefer to promote within the hierarchy
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10. Person is eventually promoted to his level of incompetence
But Why ?
System encourages people to rise to level of incompetence
If you are competent, youll be promoted
But when you cant do well, youll stay
Effects
Bungling your job
Frustrating your coworkers
Eroding effectiveness of organization
11. A deduction or inference that follows a main proposition
Corollaries of Peter principle lead us to more consequences
Corollaries of Peter Principle
12. Useful Work
All useful work is done by those who have not yet reached their level of incompetence
13. Hierarchy
Accomplishment is inversely proportional to its height
14. Trivial tasks
There is tendency for the person in the most powerful hierarchical position to spend all his or her time performing trivial tasks

15. Super (Competence & Incompetence)

Either super-incompetence or super-competence may be offensive to the establishment
16. A super-competent case
Mrs. Abel
Taught first grade in elementary school
Parents wanted their children to be in Mrs. Abels class
Ate lunch in classroom with her pupils
But
17. Mrs. Abel cntd
She did not attend any staff meeting (except first one)
Refused to upgrade her qualifications
Did not take in-service courses
She said
I dont want a promotion. I dont want to be an administrator.
I like working with children.
18. Mrs. Abel cntd
Got low marks for
Attitude & Cooperation
Professional advancement
She had reached her level of competence
19. Up, Up and Oops!
Why do humans climb to their level of incompetence ?
Abraham Maslow
Proposes human nature as an explanation for struggle upward
Social needs Ones positions relative to others
Ego needs Recognition, Prestige
Self Actualization
20. Success The trappings
Impressing others has become such a preoccupation that the image and trappings of success are more valued than success itself
21. Management insights
22. Ability to identify genuine levels and requirements of job performance and attributes
People may then be placed in jobs that they can do and for which they are best suited
Self check is most important
Identify boundary of competence
Hierarchy kills competence and competent individuals
23. Types of Incompetence
Professional
Physical
Mental
Social
Emotional
Ethical
24. Communication insight
25. The style and method used by the author is in itself a lesson on effective communication.
Presented a boring subject like hierarchy not as a serious scientific work
Presented in a light, amusing and witty way.
Gives us relief from what might otherwise be relentless "preaching".
26. Satire is a form of writing in which the message is serious and the method is humor.
Benefits of employing satire:
Its nonviolent and artistic way of criticizing.
27.
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Author objects to the form of language that mystifies rather than clarifies.
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28. Favors language that expresses
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29. coherent ideas
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30. Relevant information
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31. understandable instructions.
In the end
Success is a journey, not a destination
Ben SweetLand
Location: IIM Lucknow

Laurence J. Peter

Laurence Johnston Peter was a Canadian educator and "hierarchiologist", best known to the general public for the formulation of the Peter Principle.
Born: September 16, 1919, Vancouver, Canada
Died: January 12, 1990
Education: Washington State University
Books: The Peter Prescription: How to be Creative, Confident & Competent, more