March 15, 2008 at 18:46Lawrence J. Peter's Principle of Incompetence
A debate has recently arisen: why in some cases it is necessary to shake up the system and dismiss some of its representatives. And to dismiss in spite of the experience.
In the topic of this conversation, I recently read about the Lawrence J. Peter principle or the principle of incompetence. It sounds like this: " In the hierarchy, each individual tends to rise to his level of incompetence ." So, according to the principle of Peter, an employee working in any system will be promoted until he is unable to cope with his duties. In other words, in a long period of time, any vertical growth ends with the incompetence of a person. Also, according to Peter, an employee in this position “gets stuck” and remains until he leaves the system (leaves, dies, retires).
Modern socio-economic foundations aim a person at success, understood, first of all, as growth in a career and wage. If you are able to carry out your work efficiently and without stress, they will tell you: “This work does not allow you to prove yourself. You must rise higher. ”The problem is that when you finally get something that you cannot really cope with, it is this type of activity that becomes your constant activity. Piling up your work. You despair colleagues and undermine the effectiveness of the entire organization. Thus, each individual employee will stop ultimately at the level of his incompetence. According to statistics, managers who are most firmly seated in their posts are distinguished by a pathological inability to competently perform official duties.
On the other hand, a person having reached a certain official level begins to play politics. Since competence in the new position is not enough, the employee has to deal with the mystification of his own need for this position. A set of features of this behavior is called the “Final Stop Syndrome” - the substitution of the productive work of some other, active, outwardly easily noticeable activity. Signs of End Stop Syndrome:
Once the hierarchy has established itself, its own existence becomes a goal for it. In the best case, this will manifest itself as local tyranny, in the worst, it is a strategy aimed at self-destruction of the system as a whole. Moreover, this state of affairs will be facilitated by the fact that the leader who promoted the employee will not recognize the error and will continue to support the incompetent employee. In addition, at the time of incompetence, the previous employee position is already taken.
The impossibility of abandoning the desire for incompetence. A person, even realizing that he will not be able to cope with the proposed position, usually cannot refuse it. If you try to refuse, he will be subjected to severe pressure from family, friends, colleagues and leadership. Peter gives an example: “My immediate boss was transferred to another place, and I was offered to head the department. Since I believed that my post allowed the old dream to come true, I rejected this offer. Persistent advice was followed not to rush and think carefully. In the weeks that followed, the authorities persuaded me, colleagues pressed me from all sides, urging me to agree to the promotion. This pressure traumatized me so much that I decided to use creative incompetence. This is a technique consisting in consciously showing oneself incompetent in something, irrelevant to the scope of your recognized achievements. You do this in order to convince a superior person that with all the competence that you show in your current place, you do not deserve further progress. It may seem that this is difficult to do, but in practice, as I have discovered, it is achieved quite easily and gives a lot of pleasure. As soon as I put my car several times in the place reserved for the dean’s car, the proposals for a higher post were canceled. ” achieved quite easily and gives a lot of pleasure. As soon as I put my car several times in the place reserved for the dean’s car, the proposals for a higher post were canceled. ” achieved quite easily and gives a lot of pleasure. As soon as I put my car several times in the place reserved for the dean’s car, the proposals for a higher post were canceled. ”
An example of the principle . The principal of the school, Ostow Lope, had the ability to misunderstand other people that I had never met. He was a competent researcher and an excellent teacher. The disciples listened to his every word, and he knew no problems with maintaining discipline. Having become a director, he did not show the slightest understanding or sympathy for what the ordinary teacher cared for. He was struck by the discovery that, being able to get along so well with children, he faced only troubles in relations with his own staff ... He is not suitable for further advancement, and most of his present life is spent on memories of the good old time spent in the classroom . A competent mentor of children has risen to an incompetent adult leader.
Some consequences of the principle Lawrence J. Peter:
Universality of principlePeter. Peter’s principle is applicable to any hierarchical system in which the employee, who was initially at the lower levels of the hierarchy, is eventually reckoned with. Since most organizations (private firms, government agencies, the army, the church) are hierarchical, the scope of application of the Peter principle is very wide. Even things, technologies and weapons also obey the tendency to achieve a level of incompetence. The historical chronicle informed us that in 1628 the largest sea ship of its time, the Swedish naval ship Vasa, was launched. He was the largest not only in size, but also in the number of guns: sixty-four guns on two decks. He sank immediately - its upper part outweighed the lower.
Peter principle on wikipedia
Peter principle on zarabotu.ru
In the topic of this conversation, I recently read about the Lawrence J. Peter principle or the principle of incompetence. It sounds like this: " In the hierarchy, each individual tends to rise to his level of incompetence ." So, according to the principle of Peter, an employee working in any system will be promoted until he is unable to cope with his duties. In other words, in a long period of time, any vertical growth ends with the incompetence of a person. Also, according to Peter, an employee in this position “gets stuck” and remains until he leaves the system (leaves, dies, retires).
Modern socio-economic foundations aim a person at success, understood, first of all, as growth in a career and wage. If you are able to carry out your work efficiently and without stress, they will tell you: “This work does not allow you to prove yourself. You must rise higher. ”The problem is that when you finally get something that you cannot really cope with, it is this type of activity that becomes your constant activity. Piling up your work. You despair colleagues and undermine the effectiveness of the entire organization. Thus, each individual employee will stop ultimately at the level of his incompetence. According to statistics, managers who are most firmly seated in their posts are distinguished by a pathological inability to competently perform official duties.
On the other hand, a person having reached a certain official level begins to play politics. Since competence in the new position is not enough, the employee has to deal with the mystification of his own need for this position. A set of features of this behavior is called the “Final Stop Syndrome” - the substitution of the productive work of some other, active, outwardly easily noticeable activity. Signs of End Stop Syndrome:
- Tendency to formalize work;
- The constant invention of bureaucratic rules;
- The requirement from subordinates of their exact observance, even contrary to objective expediency.
Once the hierarchy has established itself, its own existence becomes a goal for it. In the best case, this will manifest itself as local tyranny, in the worst, it is a strategy aimed at self-destruction of the system as a whole. Moreover, this state of affairs will be facilitated by the fact that the leader who promoted the employee will not recognize the error and will continue to support the incompetent employee. In addition, at the time of incompetence, the previous employee position is already taken.
The impossibility of abandoning the desire for incompetence. A person, even realizing that he will not be able to cope with the proposed position, usually cannot refuse it. If you try to refuse, he will be subjected to severe pressure from family, friends, colleagues and leadership. Peter gives an example: “My immediate boss was transferred to another place, and I was offered to head the department. Since I believed that my post allowed the old dream to come true, I rejected this offer. Persistent advice was followed not to rush and think carefully. In the weeks that followed, the authorities persuaded me, colleagues pressed me from all sides, urging me to agree to the promotion. This pressure traumatized me so much that I decided to use creative incompetence. This is a technique consisting in consciously showing oneself incompetent in something, irrelevant to the scope of your recognized achievements. You do this in order to convince a superior person that with all the competence that you show in your current place, you do not deserve further progress. It may seem that this is difficult to do, but in practice, as I have discovered, it is achieved quite easily and gives a lot of pleasure. As soon as I put my car several times in the place reserved for the dean’s car, the proposals for a higher post were canceled. ” achieved quite easily and gives a lot of pleasure. As soon as I put my car several times in the place reserved for the dean’s car, the proposals for a higher post were canceled. ” achieved quite easily and gives a lot of pleasure. As soon as I put my car several times in the place reserved for the dean’s car, the proposals for a higher post were canceled. ”
An example of the principle . The principal of the school, Ostow Lope, had the ability to misunderstand other people that I had never met. He was a competent researcher and an excellent teacher. The disciples listened to his every word, and he knew no problems with maintaining discipline. Having become a director, he did not show the slightest understanding or sympathy for what the ordinary teacher cared for. He was struck by the discovery that, being able to get along so well with children, he faced only troubles in relations with his own staff ... He is not suitable for further advancement, and most of his present life is spent on memories of the good old time spent in the classroom . A competent mentor of children has risen to an incompetent adult leader.
Some consequences of the principle Lawrence J. Peter:
- The cream rises until it is sour.
- For every existing position in the world, somewhere there is a person who is unable to comply with it. With a sufficient number of promotions, it is he who will occupy this position.
- All useful work is done by those who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.
- In a hierarchy, individual accomplishments are inversely proportional to the height of the post. In other words, the larger the vertical growth, the less horizontal.
- Equal opportunity means that everyone is equally likely to become incompetent. Even a housewife can manage the state.
- Getting a job is harder than staying in it.
Universality of principlePeter. Peter’s principle is applicable to any hierarchical system in which the employee, who was initially at the lower levels of the hierarchy, is eventually reckoned with. Since most organizations (private firms, government agencies, the army, the church) are hierarchical, the scope of application of the Peter principle is very wide. Even things, technologies and weapons also obey the tendency to achieve a level of incompetence. The historical chronicle informed us that in 1628 the largest sea ship of its time, the Swedish naval ship Vasa, was launched. He was the largest not only in size, but also in the number of guns: sixty-four guns on two decks. He sank immediately - its upper part outweighed the lower.
Peter principle on wikipedia
Peter principle on zarabotu.ru
