The Peter Principle
People rise to their level of incompetence.
Tiny Summary
The Peter Principle: "In a hierarchy, every employee rises to their level of incompetence." Success at one level leads to promotion, until you reach a role where you can't succeed.
The Mechanism
Junior Engineer → Excellent coder → Promoted
Senior Engineer → Great at mentoring → Promoted
Engineering Manager → Terrible at management → Stuck (incompetent at current role)
Why It Happens
Promotion based on current performance: Good engineer → senior engineer (same skills). Good senior → manager (different skills!). Good manager → director (very different skills!). Writing code ≠ managing people. Technical expertise ≠ leadership ability.
Signs You've Reached Your Level
Previously competent, now overwhelmed. Tasks that were easy now feel impossible. No longer getting promoted. Performance reviews mention "areas for improvement."
Consequences
Individual: Stress, burnout, imposter syndrome. Trapped in role you're bad at.
Organizational: Incompetent people in leadership. Good engineers become bad managers. Poor decisions blocked.
Solutions
Individual: Decline promotions that don't fit. Pursue lateral moves (staff engineer vs manager). Specialize in what you're good at.
Organizational: Separate IC and management tracks. Don't force engineers into management. Promote based on skills needed for next role, not current performance.
Key Insights
Your best engineer rarely makes the best manager. Promotion isn't always the answer. It's okay to say "I don't want that role." Organizations need strong IC tracks (Staff/Principal Engineer). Being incompetent doesn't mean you're bad—you're just in the wrong role.