EXPECTATIONS VERSUS ABILITIES

From My Perspective - - -

As events unfold in ones life, sooner or later reference will be made to “The Peter Principle”! The general interpretation is that a person has a level of ability/competency and to go beyond that level invokes The Peter Principle. What is The Peter Principle? The Peter Principle states that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his/her level of incompetence. It was formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in their 1968 book THE PETER PRINCIPLE, a humorous treatise which also introduced the salutary science of Hierarchiology, inadvertently founded by Peter, the principle has real validity. It holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their level of incompetence), and there they remain. Peter's corollary states that in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out his duties and adds that work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.

The Author, Gary North, in his Thesis: “Computers Versus The Peter Principle” writes: “The Peter Principle vies with Parkinson’s Law as one of the two most fundamental laws of bureaucracy. Parkinson’s Law was first articulated in public in 1955: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. C. Northcote Parkinson was a professional historian with the famous dry wit that was once common to the British upper class. He turned an article in The Economist into a book, Parkinson’s Law, in 1957. He later offered a corollary: "Expenditure rises to meet income. The Peter Principle was first made public in Jan. 1967, in an article in Esquire. This principle announces: In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. Professor Peter was a specialist in the area of hierarchical incompetence. He was a professor of education. Here is his thesis. People get promoted in a hierarchy for as long as they display competence on the job. At some point, however, everyone hits his ceiling of competence. But neither he nor his employer recognizes that this is his top. So, he is given one additional promotion. At that point, he has risen to his level of incompetence. He will cease receiving any further promotions.”

While there are many applications that can be made in this regard, rather than drift toward denigrating any group, the point of focus is on motivation, skills development, ability that matches expectation, and maximized performance. A reason why Seminars and In-Service Training has been developed is to hone the skills of an individual so there can be increased motivation, skill development, productivity and realization of fulfillment in ones task. Regardless of ones experience and task involvement, there is considerable development in all skill areas. It would be short-sighted and unwise to ignore or be detached from the opportunities to increase knowledge and to learn better ways to accomplish a task. It is possible to invent a better mouse trap, or a better broom, etc. The learning curve is always a continuum and maximum potential is always the pursuit. None of this can occur through osmosis! It requires discipline and study and effort.

Consider these things with me - - - The Peter Principle is shattered when the Spiritual Dynamic enters. God, The Creator, spoke – “Let Us Make” – and the Universe and Man came into being. Two thoughts: In Matthew 4:18, as Jesus began to summon men/disciples, He said: “Come, follow me…and I will make you…” It would be instilling extra-ordinary skills and abilities into ordinary men. In like manner, in II Corinthians 5:17, we read: “…if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The operative phrase is “new creation”! The overall point is that God has always been The Creator and His Work is now particularized in terms of the one who is In Christ. There is a new horizon, a new hope, a new potential, a new “You” as this new creation takes place, and the words of Jesus echo to you – “I Will Make You…” into what I want you to be. The only way this proposition can be proven and tested is for one to be In Christ where this new creation process will take place. To read about this “new creation” possibility further, one can consult Psalm 1; Ephesians 2 and 4; II Corinthians 5; etc. The difference between The Peter Principle and The Jesus Principle is that Jesus guarantees the new creation result in and for you!