Peter Principle

The Peter Principle is a concept in management theory holding that members of a hierarchical organization are promoted based on their success in their current role until they reach a position for which they are no longer competent, at which point they stop being promoted and remain in that role. Formulated by Laurence J. Peter and popularized in his 1969 book of the same name with Raymond Hull, the idea uses satire to describe a real pattern observed in bureaucratic and corporate hierarchies, where promotion criteria reward performance in a prior job rather than the skills a new, higher position actually requires. The concept has become a widely cited shorthand in discussions of organizational competence and hierarchy design.