The Peter Principle

First published in 1969, this title became the standard description of the pervasive, almost ineradicable management problem Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull describe: If you or anyone else performs well at your job, you will gain a promotion, but there’s a catch.

Your first promotion will move you to a position that demands pretty much the same skill set as your previous job. But if you perform that job well, with each subsequent promotion, your new position will require fewer and fewer of the skills, perceptions, habits or managerial abilities that enabled you to shine in the first place. At some point in this cycle, the authors convincingly assert, you will end up in a job at which you can’t excel. You will, they memorably note, “rise to [your] level of incompetence.” And there, Peter and Hull are certain, you will stay.