2. Dr. Laurence j.Peter
Laurence J. Peter, (born Sept. 16, 1919, Vancouver, B.C., Can.—died Jan. 12, 1990,
Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., U.S.), Canadian teacher and author of the best-
selling book The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong (1969).
Peter was educated in the United States at Western Washington State College
(B.A., 1957; M.A., 1958) and Washington State College (Ph.D., 1963) and taught
at the University of British Columbia before becoming a professor of education
at the University of Southern California (1966–70). He wrote The Peter Principle
with Raymond Hull; a satirical commentary on his experiences with
educational and other bureaucracies, its central thesis was that “in a
hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.” After
being rejected by 30 publishers, it sold eight million copies and was translated
into 38 languages.
3. The Peter Principle
According to the Peter Principle, every position in a given hierarchy will
eventually be filled by employees who are incompetent to fulfill the job duties
of their respective positions.
Every employee to rise in the hierarchy through promotion until they
reach a level of respective incompetence.
5. The Peter Principle
The Peter Principle observes that employees rise up through a
firm's hierarchy through promotion until they reach a level of
respective incompetence.
As a result, according to the Peter Principle, every position in a
given hierarchy will eventually be filled by employees who are
incompetent to fulfill the job duties of their respective positions.
A possible solution to the problem posed by the Peter Principle
is for companies to provide adequate skill training for
employees receiving a promotion, and to ensure the training is
appropriate for the position to which they have been promoted.
