the Peter principle

ops culture

In a hierarchy, people rise to their level of incompetence.

Laurence J. Peter's 1969 satire observed that promotion rewards performance in the current job, not aptitude for the next one, so employees climb until they reach a role they do poorly, and stay there. Tech companies built dual career ladders largely to blunt it, letting great engineers advance without becoming managers. The satire has since accumulated empirical support in studies of sales-force promotions.

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