The Peter Principle – Is It Accurate?

Is The Peter Principle Still Valid Today?

First off, what the heck is the Peter Principle?  The Peter Principle was created by Dr. Laurence Peter in 1968 and the theory was published in his book “The Peter Principle.”  In short, his theory focuses on that in an organizational hierarchy structure each employee will be promoted to a level of incompetence.  On the surface this theory may seem a bit off.  Why would each employee be promoted to a level that is detrimental to themselves and the organization that they work for?  When I first came across the Peter Principle I logically thought this made no sense.  After unpacking the theory, observing my work environment, and talking with other leaders about this I have came to my conclusion.  But before I get to if I agree or disagree with the Peter Principle, lets unpack it a bit more and provide a case study to put the theory to life.

Unpacking The Peter Principle

The Peter Principle as discussed above centers on at some point, every employee will reach a level of incompetence.  After I got over my initial logical reaction, I began to see how the Peter Principle is indeed true.  Dr. Peter also noted that each employee if competent, will get promoted but will fail to be promoted past a certain point.  This is basically saying that every employee will reach their critical mass, thus they are stuck to the point at which their competency declines.  The Peter Principle also discusses that a person may not be incompetent in a new position, but simply lack the skill sets that are needed to perform the job to its fullest.  But wouldn’t that still make the employee incompetent since they are lacking the skill set to do the job?  Dr. Peter states that in order to solve this problem, ongoing education is key.  If you are learning and growing, you will not reach a level of incompetence.  I 100% agree with this.  You have to possess learning agility and a growth mindset to avoid reaching your critical mass.  In the never ending, pacesetting, driving for results climate that runs the world economy, this sets many up to reach their critical mass sooner rather than later which in turn makes the Peter Principle accurate.  With high demands and not enough time for personal and professional development, the Peter Principle becomes the foundation.  If we alter the pacesetting, never ending cycle of demands and sharpen our focus on human capital, that would eliminate the problem of people reaching their critical mass.

A Case Study For The Peter Principle

This case study is out of the book Primal Leadership, Learning to lead with Emotional Intelligence.  I highly recommend this book to everyone, you can find it in the bookstore.  The case study example describes how a biochemist “Sam” was a top researcher in his company and was highly respected.  He was promoted to be the head of research and failed miserably.  The gap that he faced was that although he was a top researcher, he could not lead others.  Thus, he grew into a level of incompetence.  He micromanaged, took over when others failed, was quick to condemn poor performance, and had trust issues.  All of these factors were holes in his ability to lead others and in the end he went back to being a top researcher.  This seems to happen a lot in companies and organizations.  People perform well, then they reach a leadership level and have no clue on how to actually lead others.  Leadership is a profession in my eyes, not something you simply slip into.  Like a doctor or a lawyer, leadership takes time to learn, practice, and implement.  But with the fast paced environment we all live in today, how often is this taking place?

The Peter Principle in my opinion is accurate to a certain degree.  People will ultimately get to a place that they cannot advance and thrive due to their incompetence.  However, this can be countered by self development and a growth adopted mindset.  It can also be countered by sharpening your strengths and finding positions or careers that suite those strengths.  The Peter Principle will impact you if you let it

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