The Peter Principle

**By Jeffrey Phillips   Article

Innovation and the Peter Principle

“By this point in your career, regardless of your length of time in your career, you’ve met someone who demonstrates the description of the Peter Principle.  According to the authors of the book, the Peter Principle espouses that “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence”. Of course any sweeping statement like this one must be taken with a grain of salt …

What’s interesting or nefarious about the Peter Principle when it comes to innovation?  In my mind the seeming inevitability of managers and executives as they climb the ladder to hold on to innovation as a competence or skill. …

I suspect many of the best ideas in companies come from employees who have been with the firm less than ten years, because over time many of us find our will being shaped and formed by corporate culture.  It’s inevitable, then, as we climb the corporate ladder and risks gets magnified that we’ll embrace less risk, less change and less uncertainty.  We may “encourage” that behavior in others but executives and managers for the most part refrain from innovation, as it is too disruptive to the short term goals of the company. …

So, at a time when innovation is paramount, many executives may be at their “Peter Principle” summit, unwilling to risk change and uncertainty, removed from the needs and expectations of customers and too focused on the short term goals to see the longer term picture.  Have they “risen to the level of their incompetence” or merely allowed their skills, perspectives and knowledge to atrophy?  Certainly it is the latter, but often hard to distinguish from a distance.” – Article

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