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The Peter Principle

October 8, 2008

From: Wilkinson, P.R. (2008). Aha: insights for effective leadership and management. Baltimore: Publish America.

We have all heard of the Peter Principle. It is usually couched in very negative terms concerning the people suffering from the malaise. Maybe we should dig a little deeper.

I believe each of us has an inherent capacity to understand and cope with certain levels of complexity. When an individual is at the top of their capacity, he/she is right on their game and usually very effective at what they do. This level of effectiveness is likely to be noticed and can result in a promotion because of the old adage that past performance is usually the best indicator of future performance. So the promotion comes and they get moved to a position of increased complexity which they cannot handle. They become ineffective and people wonder how they ever got to that position. The problem is that no matter how hard they work, they will not be effective because the job has exceeded the level of complexity that they can manage. It is not that they are bad, they are just in the wrong position. There is a way out.

If a person is suffering from the Peter Principle, it would be a great benefit to the organization and the person to find another position that matches this person's complexity level capabilities. While this can be challenging, it will result the organizations benefiting from a very effective employee (Wilkinson, 2008, p. 159-160).

Aha: Insights for Effective Leadership and Management is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center. To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page http://164.107.48.88/winnebago/index.asp?lib

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Created: 2008-12-05, Updated: 2009-01-08