Mapped out career paths in large companies may be all well and good for the individuals concerned, but if these people are transferred into areas requiring skills that are beyond their core competencies – something that is referred to as the “Peter Principle” – the outcome may not be so desirable…
The problem is that common sense often fools us. It’s not so hard to see that a new position in an organization requires different skills, so the competent performance of one task may not correlate well with the ability to perform another task well. Peter pointed out that in large organizations where these practices are used, it is inevitable that individuals will be promoted until they reach their level of maximum incompetence. The unavoidable result is the runaway spread of incompetence throughout an organization.
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