The Peter Principle: An Analysis of Raymond Hull's Theory of Why Things Don't Always Go As Planned

Amy F.: Recommended to me. Didn’t disappoint.

United States on Aug 04, 2023

M. Dave Salisbury: I’m not sure I accept all the precepts, I disagree strongly about the role of leaders and have serious questions. But I have these questions because of the book. Enjoy your voyage of discovery!

United States on Jul 25, 2023

praveenboragi: In this author tells about different scenarios in which one become inefficient and dispensable.
And there are seven levels of incompetence which have been illustrated each with their example respectively.

India on Jul 14, 2023

Chris Thomas: The writing style is suitably dry for this type of material but the fictional names the authors make up for their examples are sometimes amusing and sometimes groan-worthy. The authors do a nice job of demonstrating why just because someone is good at their job, they won’t necessarily be good at managing other people who do that job. Probably every adult has seen an example in real life but couldn’t give the phenomena a name.

The bonus, for me anyway, was the hand-written dedication inside the front cover and the dedication was dated December 1969. A little bit of someone’s personal history in the book!

United States on Jun 16, 2023

Grandpa2: Most people are promoted or inserted into positions in which they are incompetent.

Canada on May 21, 2023

Ekta d.: This book will change how you view your seniors and workplace. It helped me understand and identify patterns in people

India on Apr 11, 2023

LA in Dallas: It was 1969, and I was a high school student when the sound of The Peter Principle was heard in the land. I remember hearing the adults in my life talking about it. What is The Peter Principle? It's a simple idea intended to explain why nothing works the way it should.

You get a job in some organization (could be a company, could be a public school, could be a university -- doesn't matter), and you try to do your job competently. If you succeed, you are promoted to a new position, where your job is different. Specifically, it is not the job in which you just demonstrated competence. Once again, you try to do your job. Two things can happen. One, you are competent, and you get promoted again. Two, you are incompetent, and you don't get promoted -- you remain in the job you are unable to perform competently. (You might think you would be fired or demoted, but in point of fact those outcomes are very rare for ordinary incompetence.) Thus, The Peter Principle (which author Laurence J. Peter named after himself):

"In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence"

Thus, in a typical organization, every long-time employee is working at a job...

United States on Apr 04, 2023

chicco: Interessante, è piccino e si legge in fretta anche se il lessico a volte è complesso per uno straniero che legge in inglese

Italy on Feb 07, 2023

Caio Pereira: "The Peter's Principle" (em port. "O Princípio de Peter), escrito por Laurence J. Peter e Raymond Hill, fala sobre um tema que nem todos gostam de comentar: incompetência.

De acordo com o princípio cunhado pelo autor, toda pessoa que faz parte de uma hierarquia, inevitavelmente subirá na hierarquia até atingir seu nível de incompetência.

Por mais sátiro que isso possa parecer, o conceito é bastante poderoso. Todas as pessoas que são competentes em alguma atividade, quando promovidas, vão deixando tais habilidades para trás, para assumir outras exigidas pela promoção. Isso faz com que a pessoa deixe de ser competente naquilo que faz e, a cada subida, fique mais próxima do seu nível de incompetência.

Uma vez atingido o nível incompetência, a pessoa não consegue mais ser promovida (por razões agora óbvias). E aí ela jaz infeliz até o fim de sua carreira.

O livro é bastante sátiro. Peter cunhou diversas nomenclaturas engraçadas para descrever situações, cargos, etc, que mostram a presença do seu princípio em todo tipo de hierarquia.

Peter também fornece estratégias para evitar a Síndrome do Lugar Final - sentida por...

Brazil on Jul 09, 2020

Justin Ritchie: With this simple phrase on p.15 of my edition of The Peter Principle he explained nearly every problem the human species has faced as we have entered increasingly complex organizations in the development of our civilization,

In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence given enough time and enough levels in the hierarchy

And the more I've thought about it, internalized it, experienced corporate hierarchy... the more I've realized that it explains everything.

A housing bubble caused by artificially low inflation rates? Some blame Greenspan but the reality is that he was just serving above his level of competence. It makes sense. America's colony in Iraq flubbed? Some blame Bush or his subordinates but the reality was that they were serving above their level of competence. We all do from time to time. We all think we are the exception.

As acquaintances enter the work force and through my own witness to the mindset of the low level employee, everyone seems to be focused primarily on ascending to the higher levels. Why? I think it is what we do as a species. It is our fate. I don't mean to dissuade blame from individuals,...

United States on Jun 13, 2009