Peter Principle

The Peter Principle is an unwritten law in business and other structured hierarchies detailed in the appropriately-titled satirical book The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong. tl;dr version: you will be promoted and given new jobs until one proves too hard and there, you will stay. Forever. Until the company goes out of business because of your incompetence or you decide to pwn yourself.

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OP.

	“	Everyone rises to their level of incompetence.	„
	—Laurence J. Peter, "The Peter Principle"

This is the reason why everybody's boss is a total fuckwad that couldn't count to 21 without dropping his pants.

The Vicious Cycle

1. Bob is hired to company in some low level role (for example, programmer).
2. Bob does a good job for a period of time at his job.
3. Bob is given a promotion to a new role (for example, software designer).
4. Bob may or may not do well in that completely different role, but if he does, he's given another promotion (for example, "lead project management")
5. Bob keeps getting promotions to completely new roles that involve less of the skills that got him hired in the first place and more involving middle management.
6. Eventually, Bob is promoted to a job that he cannot do well. Maybe he was a good software designer, but now, he's a total fuckwad as the Head of Software Design Planning and Implementation.
7. Because he's no longer doing a good job, Bob is not promoted any further.
8. Bob stops trying because he no longer gives a fuck.
9. ???
10. No profit, only fail.

See Also

• The President of the United States of America: The ultimate Peter Principle job if W is any indication.

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Peter Principle is part of a series on Psychology