Quotes from Laurence J. Peter

La supercompetencia conduce a menudo al despido, porque transtorna la jerarquía y viola con ello el primer mandamiento de la vida jerárquica, según el cual la jerarquía debe ser preservada.

the ability to charm, to amuse, to inflame a crowd of ten thousand voters with voice and gesture did not necessarily carry with it the ability to think sensibly, to debate soberly and to vote wisely on the nation's business.

In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence

Such an extreme policy will not be generally tolerated. So, to avoid the accumulation of incompetents, administrators have evolved the plan of promoting everyone, the incompetent as well as the competent. They find psychological justification for this policy by saying that it spares students the painful experience of failure.

Man's First Mistake: The Wheel

IT SHOULD BE clear by now that when an employee reaches his level of incompetence, he can no longer do any useful work. Incompetent, Yes! Idle, No! This in no way suggests that the ultimate promotion suddenly changes the former worker into an idler. Not at all! In most cases he still wants to work; he still makes a great show of activity; he sometimes thinks he is working. Yet actually little that is useful is accomplished

It is true that work can expand to fill the time allotted but it can expand far beyond that. It can expand beyond the life of the organization and the company can go bankrupt, a government can fall, a civilization can crumble into barbarism, while the incompetents work on.

super-incumbent," who is "a person above you who, having reached his level of incompetence, blocks your path to promotion").

The cave-dweller's wife complained that he hadn't dragged her anywhere in months.

There are more pretty photographs of women than there are photographs of pretty women.

Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.

Committees have become so important nowadays that subcommittees have to be appointed to do the work.

Everyone rises to their level of incompetence.

If at first you don't succeed, you may be at your level of incompetence already.

Computers can solve all kinds of problems except the unemployment problem they create.

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

If the outcome is good, what's the difference between motives that sound good and good, sound motives?

Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.

In most hierarchies, supercompetence is more objectionable than incompetence.

Men now monopolize the upper levels... depriving women of their rightful share of opportunities for incompetence.

Middle age is when it takes longer to rest than to get tired.

Middle age is when you stop criticizing the older generation and start criticizing the younger one.

Middle age is when anything new in the way you feel is most likely a symptom.

Middle age is when the best exercise is one of discretion.