Laurence J. Peter
world smart imbecile
“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
aristotle axiom inequality unequal equal
“Aristotle's axiom: The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
logic armor ignorance
“Against logic there is no armor like ignorance.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
publisher blurb reputation author write
“Before publishers' blurbs were invented, authors had to make their reputations by writing.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
failure thought did never
“There are two kinds of failures: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
economist prediction know happen tomorrow yesterday today
“An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
hierarchy employee rise level incompetence
“In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
Peter principle hierarchy incompetence
“All new members in a hierarchical organization climb the hierarchy until they reach their level of maximum incompetence.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
two wrongs right try three
“If two wrongs don't make a right, try three.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
problem complex intelligent informed undecided
“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
originality remember hear forget
“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
man meet halfway poor judge distance
“The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
know doesn't know
“A man doesn't know what he knows until he knows what he doesn't know.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
incompetent nothing do mess
“The incompetent with nothing to do can still make a mess of it.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
intelligence test leisure
“The best intelligence test is what we do with our leisure.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
America destiny speed record
“America is a country that doesn't know where it is going but is determined to set a speed record getting there.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
intelligence test smart
“An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
education acquire higher prejudice
“Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
good follower leader
“Good followers do not become good leaders.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
work accomplish employee incompetence
“Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
equal opportunity chance incompetent
“Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
government democracy dictatorship fail hierarchy maturity
“Any government, whether it is a democracy, a dictatorship, a communistic or free enterprise bureaucracy, will fall when its hierarchy reaches an intolerable state of maturity.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
bureaucracy defend status quo lost
“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
observation computer incompetent Peter principle
“Three Observations
1) The computer may be incompetent in itself—that is, unable to do regularly and accurately the work for which it was designed. This kind of incompetence can never be eliminated, because the Peter Principle applies in the plants where computers are designed and manufactured.
2) Even when competent in itself, the computer vastly magnifies the results of incompetence in its owners or operators.
3) The computer, like a human employee, is subject to the Peter Principle. If it does good work at first, there is a strong tendency to promote it to more responsible tasks, until it reaches its level of incompetence.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
problem say think before
“My problem is I say what I'm thinking before I think what I'm saying.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
post occupied employee incompetent duties
“In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)
efficiency hierarchy maturity quotient employee work accomplish
“The efficiency of a hierarchy is inversely proportional to its Maturity Quotient, M.Q. MQ = No. of employees at level of incompetence × 100 / Total no. of employees in hierarchy Obviously, when MQ reaches 100, no useful work will be accomplished at all.”
― Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)