QUOTATION 9

LAURENCE J. PETER ON WHY PEOPLE RISE TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR OWN INCOMPETENCE

Use this to remind you of the need to review the performance of all staff.

The Peter Principle was devised by Laurence J. Peter (1919–90), a Canadian educator and hierarchiologist who was interested in organisation structures and hierarchies. His work often is dismissed as something of a joke, but it contains valuable insights into the nature of hierarchal organisations. The most famous of which is that:

In a hierarchy every employee rises to the level of their own incompetence.

Laurence J. Peter

People often assume that the principle cannot be correct because it would mean that all managers in an organisation are incompetent and would, therefore, quickly go out of business. Such an interpretation is incorrect. Peter recognises that many managers operate at a level below their own incompetence and others will never reach it. Therefore, the organisation continues to prosper. It is when key posts are occupied by people who have risen to the level of their own incompetence that an organisation is in real trouble.

WHAT TO DO

  • You can never be sure that an appointment or a promotion will be successful. Therefore, protect yourself by including in contracts a probationary period during which the contract can be terminated.
  • In order to ensure that your own staff continue to apply for promotion, include in the contract a provision for the person to return to their previous post or one of equivalent pay and status.
  • Before deciding that an appointment isn’t working, undertake a review of the person’s performance, which takes into account their inexperience in the new post. This review should be conducted before the end of the person’s probationary period. This will provide time for corrective action to be taken, including providing additional training or mentoring.
  • Don’t allow the transfer from probationer to permanent staff to be rubber-stamped. It should be treated as a significant financial decision with cumulative costs running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
  • Allow high-performing staff to remain in their current post if they wish to and reward them for their outstanding performance. Not everyone wants to be promoted. Many people enjoy what they are doing and are intelligent enough to realise that, even if they could make a success of their new job, it would not provide them with the job satisfaction or work–life balance that they want.
  • Recognise that interviews are a very poor way of selecting staff, as the skills required to impress in an interview are not those required to do any job on a day-to-day basis. Use the advice given by Warren Buffet to improve your chances of appointing a star performer (see Quotation 25).
  • Remember, ever since the post of village idiot was abolished, some people reach the level of their own incompetence when given responsibility for opening the post. Often these people are convinced that they are brilliant and should be running the place. It’s best to get rid of them as soon as possible.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

  • Have I reached the level of my own incompetence? Which of my staff have reached the level of their own incompetence?
  • Do I really want to be promoted or do I apply for promotions because people expect me to do so?
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