Management · The Frontier Lexicon

The Peter Principle

Lexicon / Management / The Peter Principle
Laurence Peter & Raymond HullThe Peter Principle, 1969

In hierarchies, people are promoted on performance in their current role until they reach a role they cannot perform — everyone tends to rise to their level of incompetence.

Benson, Li & ShueQuarterly Journal of Economics, 2019

Empirical confirmation in sales: firms promote top sellers into management even when they make poor managers — promotion used as a reward corrupts selection.

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