Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
"The Peter Principle" is a term coined in 1969 by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull — it was the name of their book exploring the idea that employees are often promoted beyond their level of competence. Big Think's Jonny Thomson says this is often a consequence of rewarding good followers with leadership positions. "What Hull and Peter point out is that it makes no sense at all to assume that someone who’s lived their career in unoriginal subordination would suddenly become Abraham Lincoln with a corner office," he writes. Here's his story for Big Think about what we can learn from the theory — and how we can avoid its pitfalls.
@CultureDesk you know, that "unoriginal subordination" remark is kinda pointlessly going too far. I've seen many highly talented and creative engineers promoted into leadership and fail because *leadership is a distinct set of skills*.
@roadriverrail Agreed — it's a little snide, but we're assuming he's exaggerating to make his point. He does emphasize the need for coaching and training on the job so you can help transition individual contributors to leaders, and makes the point that you should allow for lateral moves for people who are promoted and it turns out, aren't suited for leadership roles.