Yes, You Can Blame Your Pointy-Haired Boss On the Peter Principle

Nerval's Lobster writes: You've heard of the Peter Principle, which suggests that all employees manage to rise to the level of their incompetence. (That is to say, everybody is promoted until their skills and strengths no longer align with their current position.) While the Peter Principle is often treated as a truism, a recent Gallup study (registration required)—the result of four decades' worth of research, involving 2.5 million manager-led teams—suggests that it holds a significant degree of real-world truth. "Gallup has found that only 10 percent of working people possess the talent to be a great manager," the study mentions in its introduction. "Companies use outdated notions of succession to put people in these roles." In Gallup's estimation, there are so many bad managers out there that one out of every two employees have "left their job to get away," according to the study. "Managers who are not engaged or who are actively disengaged cost the U.S. economy $319 billion to $398 billion annually." In other words, there are a lot of pointy-haired managers out there.

Comments

So far so good.

[sls1j]

Been programming professionally for 18 years and have managed to keep out of the manager roll, where I have no doubt that I'd be truly terrible.

Re:So far so good.

[Binky The Oracle]

Knowing that and accepting that is *SO* important to long-term happiness and satisfaction in the workplace. A lot of "I'd be a better boss than that dimwit" experts don't really understand what most of being in management actually entails. But then, neither do a lot of managers. It's sad that so many of our corporate structures are arranged so that management is the only path up.

Re:So far so good.

[ShanghaiBill]

I've also seen nontechnical people try to manage IT departments only to find their employees ready to drive them off with pitch forks

Something I learned 20 years ago, is that you never, never have a non-tech directly manage techs. They will have no idea what their people are doing, will be incapable of distinguishing good workers from self-promoters, and will quickly lose the respect of their subordinates. It just doesn't work.

Re:So far so good.

[OzPeter]

Something I learned 20 years ago, is that you never, never have a non-tech directly manage techs.

You can say the same thing about recruiters.

This is why Captain Picard...

[SpaceCommander]

should never become an Admiral. Also why Kirk sucked at the position.

Re:The good news is...

[bigman2003]

Ha! It WAS me!

I was a really good developer. Then a great developer (in my mind, and others) so I moved up the ranks.

I was pretty good, and made it to the top of the tech heap at a fairly large organization, with 3 levels of employees under me.

It was horrible. I did a really crappy job.

Instead of being a great developer or architect, I become a HORRIBLE business contract negotiator and director. I got involved in 2 HR actions at the same time. I completely failed. In fact I think I 'Petered Out'.

I bailed on that life, and found an organization willing to match my salary- back down at a developer position. I'm a nominal supervisor to 2 people.

I really think I am doing great work again- even better than before, because my viewpoint is even better. I love being a developer, and they love what I'm doing.

The Peter Principal is real. I was promoted beyond my abilities, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Being really good at something doesn't necessarily mean that I'm able to manage a bunch of other people.

Re:The good news is...

[Immerman]

Yes, just like everybody could be great at higher mathematics if they just studied diligently, and win Olympic races if they would just train regularly.

Recognizing that you're incompetent is an important first step - but it does not directly imply that you can substantially correct the deficiency.