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How is it possible that my boss doesn't know how to do this simple task?
One of life's amazing little mysteries is the phenomenon of having a boss who seems completely unqualified. They're paid a higher salary. They have a better office. They're recognized and respected by senior management—all while maintaining the status of being the most incompetent person you've ever met.
If you're dealing with an incompetent boss at work, you're probably not alone. The Peter Principle is a concept that explains how good employees slowly evolve into incompetent bosses.
Without enacting proper new manager training and hiring practices, this occurrence could slowly develop into a toxic workplace.
Table of Contents
- What is The Peter Principle
- Is The Peter Principle True?
- How Organizational Hierarchies Work
- Examples of The Peter Principle
- How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Peter
- What to Do When Your Boss is Incompetent
What is The Peter Principle?
The Peter Principle is the idea that employees who succeed at work in hierarchical companies will keep getting promoted until they reach their own level of incompetence. Once they get to a position that is over their level of competence, they no longer get promoted and plateau for the rest of their time at that job. This leads to bad bosses who stifle growth and operate at a considerable cost to the company.
The Peter Principle happens when a company's promotion practices rely on the current job performance rather than analyzing employees' skills, weaknesses, and other talents that better predict whether they would be a good manager.
For example, let's say an entry-level salesperson is great at making sales. Their positive job performance earns them consistent promotions over time. Eventually, the salesperson gets promoted from an individual contributor to a managerial position. Their new position now revolves around leading a team instead of making sales.
The company did not train these people to be effective managers (their sales performance is what got them noticed). This creates a manager who is untrained and who is underutilizing their real strengths. Their subordinates feel confused and demotivated. This is basically an express lane to burnout and stifled growth.
This is The Peter Principle at work. Just because someone is a great salesperson or good employee doesn't necessarily mean they will be a great sales manager.
Is The Peter Principle True?
The Peter Principle is a concept that was first introduced by authors Lawrence Peters and Raymond Hull in their 1969 book, The Peter Principle. Since then, it has been a popular point of discussion in the career world.
In 2018, three professors, Alan Benson, Danielle Li, and Kelly Shue analyzed the performance of sales workers at 214 firms and found evidence consistent with The Peter Principle. They estimated that "the costs of promoting workers with lower managerial potential are high, suggesting either that firms are making inefficient promotion decisions or that the benefits of promotion-based incentives are great enough to justify the costs of managerial mismatch."
They found that the best salespeople were more likely to get promoted and that they were also more likely to perform poorly as managers at the expense of the business.
How Organizational Hierarchies Work
So what does an organization need to do to avoid The Peter Principle? First, let's go over how organizational hierarchies work.
Organizational hierarchies refer to how a company is structured. It relates to the relationship between employees, managers, directors—and all the way up to presidents and CEOs.
A hierarchical organization is an organization where every entity (except one at the top) is subordinate to another entity. Basically, it's your average corporation. This system relies on a chain of command that gets smaller as you get closer to the top. As one navigates their way toward the top, their salary typically increases.
Information and directions flow vertically within an organizational hierarchy. Directions are passed down while information is passed up. The top of the hierarchy is in charge of analyzing information and developing policies that reflect the information they have received. Meanwhile, the bottom is in charge of enacting those policies and then sending their results back up to the top.
Examples of The Peter Principle
Putting the salesperson example to the side, let's walk through a couple of examples of The Peter Principle at work.
Let's say a software engineer is working for a large tech company and is extremely skilled at what they do. Their current performance as a coder allows them to flex their expertise every day.
They work quickly and effectively. Their team can always rely on them to turn in error-free work promptly. When it comes time for their managing director to make a list of the best potential managers, their name is at the top of the list. They are the highest-performing team members, so why wouldn't they be the best candidates?
However, while their coding skills are impeccable, this engineer lacks some verbal and written communication skills. An independent work environment is a better fit for this engineer.
Just for fun, let's see an example outside of the office.
A soccer coach recognizes a star athlete among the team. They consistently score the highest and display the strongest level of stamina and athleticism. The coach decides to make the star player the team's captain. In addition to playing, they are now tasked with managing the team, keeping morale up, and acting as a mediator between teammates.
While they shine on the field, they don't possess the strongest interpersonal skills. They don't do a good job of managing the team. Even worse, the added stress has resulted in a decrease in athletic performance, resulting in a lose-lose outcome.
Now that you know what The Peter Principle is and what it could look like in the workplace, let's go over how you can avoid its effects.
How to Avoid the Pitfalls of The Peter Principle
As an individual contributor, you may be limited in the extent to which you can implement organizational change. However, if you are a manager or a director, there are a few things you can do to avoid the pitfalls of The Peter Principle. We recommend the following: reassess, reassign, and redevelop.
1. Reassess the Attributes of the Best Candidate
If you are a hiring manager in charge of making decisions about promotions, one of the best ways to ensure the Peter Principle does not take hold of your organization is to reflect on what attributes make an employee fit for a promotion or managerial role. If your best candidates are chosen solely on their performance in their current role, then implement some new best practices for narrowing down candidates. We recommend assessing each individual for their strengths, weaknesses, talents, and personality.
For example, Margaret may not be one of the top salespeople. However, she is a natural when it comes to motivating her team. Plus, she is exceptional at organization and delegation. Margaret is most likely going to make for a better manager than another candidate whose strength is purely in sales.
2. Reassign Incompetent Workers
Just because someone is incompetent at their job doesn't mean it's all their fault and that they should be punished by being fired or demoted. The company's promotion policies got them where they are today. However, this does not mean you need to keep them in the same position.
A CEO can reassign employees that have been Peter Principle. This means that they would be reassigned to another (lateral) position that utilizes their strengths. Their leadership duties are replaced by equally important tasks that don't involve managing people.
3. Redevelop Your Company's Managerial Training
Because managing isn't a cut-and-dried hard skill, it is often overlooked as a skill altogether. Most people assume managing and leadership are inherent abilities that anyone can learn on the job. This is just not true.
Managing and leadership training is crucial for new managers. Did you know that 60 percent of new managers fail within their first two years? As a hiring manager, make sure your company provides thoughtful training, mentorship, and/or support for new managers. If you are an employee who received a promotion and your company doesn't provide substantial training, see if you can be reimbursed for an external training or online course.
What to Do When Your Boss is Incompetent
An incompetent boss can ruin your experience at work even if you enjoy what you do. If you feel that your boss is incompetent, there are a few things you can do to help mitigate your frustrations.
1. Figure Out Where the Incompetency Is Coming From
What makes you feel like your boss is incompetent? Are they unaware of how their department or team works efficiently? Do you disagree with the policies and systems they've enacted? Or maybe you feel like they are never even present in the office or at team meetings.
Reflect on what specifically makes your boss incompetent. And remember to have empathy. At the end of the day, they are just another human showing up at work (and hopefully) trying their best under pressure.
When you find the source of the incompetency, you are better equipped to handle it. For example, if you find that your boss is bad at communicating, suggesting regular one-on-one meetings may help alleviate communication problems.
2. Manage Up
Managing up is anticipating your boss's needs to learn how to be a true source of help. This is a manner in which you can fill in some of your boss's gaps. Managing up could look like providing weekly reports to your boss, taking initiative on a project, or preparing materials for weekly team meetings.
Warning: Managing up does not mean covering up your boss's mistakes or taking on double the amount of work for no extra pay. It also doesn't mean you need to suck up to your boss. When we talk about taking more initiative, we mean doing the best job you can as an employee to add value to your team and your company.
3. Ask For Help
If you have a smaller to mid-sized company, this may be a more effective route to dealing with an incompetent boss. If you've tried to communicate your concerns with your boss and they are closed off to any kind of feedback, try seeking counsel from other managers or higher-ups.
Explain what you are experiencing and preferably back it up with evidence. This is especially important if you feel like your boss' incompetency has created a negative or toxic work environment where you no longer feel comfortable.
If you are met with no action, then it may be time to consider leaving the company.
