Library/Lexicon/TERM-097
TERM-097Behavioral

Peter Principle

The tendency for people to be promoted until they reach a role they can't perform. Coined by Laurence J. Peter in his 1969 book The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong, the observation isn't cynicism — it's math. If promotion is the only form of advancement, people who were excellent at one level end up stuck at another. The reward for competence is incompetence.

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