The Peter Principle (2011)

What is it about? 
The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong (2011) by Dr. Laurence J Peter and‎ Raymond Hull was first published in 1969. The book talks about a hierarchical corporate management theory: "In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."The theory is called "The Peter Principle." Along with Murphy's law ("whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.") and Parkinson's law ("Work expands to fill the time available for its completion."), it is called the three rules of western management.  

Why bother? 
​The book made us aware of the problem and can avoid having any position occupied by an incompetent employee.

Key Ideas 
Base on Peter's Principle  if the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's current performance rather than on the abilities relevant to the intended role, then the corporate will end up led by incompetent people." With the knowledge of the principle, the following approaches are used to avoid the "Peter's Plateau" (the level of incompetence) : 

• Training the promoted candidates so that they can take the new responsibility.
• Promoting people based on his/her capability in the new role. 
• Flattening the corporate architecture 

Favorite Quotes

"Good followers do not become good leaders." - Dr. Laurence J Peter, The Peter's Principle