The Peter Principle: Why Some People Rise and Stumble
Why you may be struggling despite your previous successes and expertise
One book that fascinates me is “The Peter Principle”.
Ever heard of the concept? It’s been around for decades, but it’s not commonly talked about.
The Peter Principle in a nutshell
Basically, the idea is that when you get promoted, you are always moving from a role where you are competent to a role where you are incompetent.
Your personal “ceiling” is when you have been promoted enough times until you've reached a level in which you can no longer grow to become competent in your role.
On a larger scale, organizations ultimately wind up with people in leadership positions who are incompetent. In short, people “rise to their incompetence”.
Example of The Peter Principle
To give you an example, let’s say there’s a fabulous heart surgeon. He has so much expertise that the hospital decides to make him the Head of Surgery.
But here’s the problem: he has no clue how to manage others, regardless of how much expertise he has in the field.
He may be an expert at heart surgery, but he’s incompetent at management.
The surgeon can learn new skills to be competent as a manager and succeed in his new role. But if it proves too difficult for him, then he won't be able to move past it due to incompetence (essentially, his output isn't stellar enough to be recognized for further promotion).
But what if you're over-delivering and are "Super Competent"?
Another element that I find fascinating is that people who over-deliver are considered “super-competent” and they may equally get let go from a company as someone who is incompetent.
The reason is that someone who goes outside the box and is an overachiever will ultimately threaten a system set up by the organization. “Super competent” people become viewed as loose cannons, with others in the organization unable to match their level of output.
For example, if a school teacher is so effective that students become way ahead of their grade level, then it poses a challenge for teachers in higher grade levels and it also makes it difficult for other teachers on the same level to match the level of quality. The teacher has essentially "threatened the system".
Here are my thoughts
There are a few things that come to mind when I was thinking about the Peter Principle:
How can you identify what role is going to be the highest in which you excel, without feeling tempted to go for a promotion to a level of incompetence? This is a super important question; for example, perhaps you are an engineer who decided to become a manager because you felt that it was the next appropriate step in your career growth, but you realize that being an engineer was more in alignment with what makes you happy in your career.
What kind of careers best suit "Super Competent" people?
What if you’re competent in your role in one context, but not in another? I see this a lot with leaders who come to Japan; they are not necessarily assigned to do anything different when taking on a role in Japan, but their tried and true methods don’t necessarily work in a Japanese context.
The good news: competence can be learned and practiced.
If you’re aiming for a promotion…how can you build your competency starting now so that you’re ready for when that shift happens and don't run into challenges part way through your transition?