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I wonder how many people who reference "The Peter Principle" have actually read it? It's short-- maybe 100 pages long-- and IMO not particularly good. It's es
by nullc 7y ago
I wonder how many people who reference "The Peter Principle" have actually read it?
It's short-- maybe 100 pages long-- and IMO not particularly good. It's essentially just a pile of brief vignettes about incompetent people being promoted, many of which feel like they were largely made up for the book. "There once was a guy named bob. He was bad at his job and got promoted. So there." ---- it is not quite that bad but it is also not obviously much better. Analysis is mostly limited to just repeating the headline thesis in a number of different ways.
I suppose it is a fine read if you were already convinced that its premise was true and just want the thrill of having your preconceived notions confirmed by a written page-- which I assume explains its commercial success. If you come into it with any doubts about the premise they will not be dispelled.
Perhaps you could say that by being constantly referenced in any related discussion, "The Peter Principle" by being unchallenging and agreeable while saying little of substance has fittingly risen to the level of its incompetence.
Having lived my entire life in a world this book existed in, perhaps I just don't Get It... maybe there was a time where this idea had to be repeated a dozen times before people would accept that it was a thing that happens, even sometimes. If so, then I suppose it served its purpose. I don't, however, think it has much to offer the reader now.
- usrusr 7y agoRead it but never made it to the end. It's an essay at most, artificially inflated to book length just to get a sellable format. I do think that it's an important insight into the inner workings of organisations, but it's far from the only truth in the room.
- downerending 7y agoI've read the book. It's a funny and insightful idea that could be expressed in one page. The author cleverly turned it into a book and made some money. You don't have to read the book, but like so many "laws", there's a kernel of truth that's worth knowing.
- mongol 7y agoAnecdotally, I find it true for so many books - that they are longer than needed to get their points across. It is like Important Things (TM) always needs a minimum number of pages to be valuable. And of course, no one would pay for a 2 page book..
- agumonkey 7y agoStarted but lost interest after 50 pages. Too much commenting about itself. And the grandiose "you will understand everything after this book" didn't match the words I was reading.
- Noughmad 7y ago> There once was a guy named bob. He was bad at his job and got promoted. That is not what the Peter principle (the principle, not the book) is about, that would be the Dilbert Principle. Peter principle says that people who are good at their jobs are promoted into a different job at which they are not as good.