Peter Principle

“In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”

The concept was formulated by Canadian educator Laurence J. Peter in the 1969 book The Peter Principle, co-authored with Raymond Hull. The idea is simple: people get promoted based on their performance in their current role, not their ability to perform in the next one. Eventually, they reach a position where they are no longer competent — and there they stay.

Peter’s corollary follows: “In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties.”

The book was intended as satire, but became popular because it described something everyone recognized in their own organizations.