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The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong
 
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The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong (Paperback)

by Laurence J. Peter; Raymond Hull (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Total RRP: £23.97
Price For All Three: £14.88

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Product details

  • Paperback: 184 pages
  • Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd; New Ed edition (23 Aug 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0285631764
  • ISBN-13: 978-0285631762
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 64,555 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

'The Guardian'

"It's almost 40 years old, but the Peter Principle is still as relevant now
as ever."

Product Description

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his own level of incompetence. This dangerously simple maxim of organisational dysfunction, first spelt out more than thirty-three years ago, has wormed its way into everyday managerial vocabulary. The Peter Principle is rife wherever hierarchies exist - multinational companies, local government, the Civil Service, hospital management, the groves of academe and public transport. There is no escape: promotion, like the paths of glory, leads but to the grave of over-promotion. 'The Peter Principle' is required reading for all those now setting their feet on the first rung of the promotional ladder, their starry-eyed gaze fixed on the heights above them. Do they realy want to scale a peak from which their fate can only be a dismal shunting into oblivion? But all is not lost. Those who shrink from the horror of the Final Placement may seek salvation in a deviously cunning strategy. It will demand diligence and a talent for dissembling, but it may just avert the unwanted, ultimate promotion.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read for anyone interested in management issues, 26 Nov 2000
'A satirical review' it says in the review. Sure. And one of the most successfull endeavours at that ever undertaken. The theory of incompetence (we all tend to reach a level where we are ineffective and stay there in whatever we do) is so compelling that to me, after zillions of management books it still stands out for its clarity and power. Even the illustrations in the version I have are to the point and funny. Enjoy!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent theory you'll never forget!, 11 Jan 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Peter Principle (Hardcover)
This book shows conclusively that "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence". Many a true word is spoken in jest...

Luckily, the book also explains how to avoid being promoted into a job you are incapable of doing well. Follow the advice and have a long and happy working career!

An often-quoted all-time classic.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny because its true..., 4 Oct 2009
By Lark - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
The central tenet of this book is that individuals rise to their level of incompetence. They could be perfectly happy, competent and skillfully fufilling their tasks but the push and pull of management and/or other organisational factors will propell them upwards until they meet with challenges which really are unassailable. They then get stuck at that point. Like the blurb on the back of the edition I have says "Ever wondered how that bunch of idiots got control of your office/factory/shop? They, as we all know, could not organise a booze-up in a brewery, but what we did not know was how they got to the top. The answer is supplied in The Peter Principle".

What I totally loved about this book was the wry and understated humour, it has been criticised for being too expansive on a single funny observation, however its a brilliant almost satirical analysis and to be honest its also a parody of a lot of management text books. This was clear to me from the outset with the blurb's promises of enlightenment, I felt that was a nice parody of a lot of big tent speaker style books which promise their readers all sorts of insights as a sales pitch. The author doesnt stop there, the book is repleat with lots of management jargon, some of the authors own invention, there's a glossary of key terminology provided also which I felt added to the comic effect. The book is also illustrated throughout, mainly with cartoons of a retro, victorian, "punch magazine" style. I have an older edition of the book and finding at the back a list of books available from the same publisher on effective business management and leadership was a cause for further, I'm sure unintentional, humour.

There's no index in this book and the chapters proceed as follows The Peter Principle; The Principle in Action; Apparent Exceptions; Pull and Promotion; Push and Promotion; Followers and Leaders; Hierachiology and Politics; Hints and Foreshadowings; The Psychology of Hierarchiology; Peter's Spiral; The Pathology of Success; Non-Medical Indices of Final Placement; Health and Happiness at Zero PQ - Possibility or Pipe Dream?; Creative Incompetence; The Darwinian Extension.

I wish I'd had this book years ago, I'd recommend it to the general reader or student and academic alike, it makes about as much sense as a lot of management or sociological gurus and it provides some wry humour and laughs along the way. I'm sure that everyone will find something in the book with which they can relate or identify, it is a book which is applicable far beyond the realm of the workplace and I suspect that the Peter Principle relates to some peoples dating, socialising or other habits, organising transport to the gig, even cooking or holding a dinner party.

Tell your friends, I was lucky enough to read about this on the website of one of my favourite bloggers, otherwise I wouldnt have known about it. Great book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Principle of 'Wrong'

A brilliant book which I bought, and lost, many years ago. I consider it a definite 'read'.
Published 6 months ago by Jon John

5.0 out of 5 stars A very entertaining book.
I red this book when I was very young and I decided to read it again, because I remember it to be funny and sharp. It turned out i was right.
Published 6 months ago by lordcris

2.0 out of 5 stars Neither educational, nor funny.
Most people know the Peter Principle as a funny way of describing incompetence in an organisation. Very few people actually read the book, though. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2005 by apnielsen

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