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A.Word.A.Day--Peter Principle

Peter Principle (PEET-uhr PRIN-suh-pal) noun

The theory that an employee within an organization will advance to his or her level of incompetence and remain there.

[After Laurence Johnston Peter (1919-1990).]

"To me, Randell personified the Peter Principle, a popular management theory of the 1970s which held that you rise to your level of incompetence -- in other words, you keep getting promoted till eventually you find yourself in a job that's beyond you."
Karl Du Fresne; Sleeping Better Thanks to Blackadder; The Evening Post; May 31, 2000.

This week's theme: Syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and principles

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