“The incompetent, with nothing to do, can still make a mess of it.”
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“The problem with temptation is that you may not get another chance.”
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Laurence J. Peter
The “Peter Principle” was introduced in the 1960’s by Laurence J. Peter and states that “in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence; the cream rises until it sours.”
Let’s tie the Peter Principle to our DMQ (Decision Making Quality) and Inner-Circle.
How many times has your Inner-Circle changed significantly?
Do you push people out of your Inner-Circle for the optimal (objective, high-DMQ) reasons?
What if your Inner-Circle provides you information that “hurts” vs. “affirmation” that is comforting, but not genuinely in your best interest long-term?
Good stuff… ambiguous; yet powerful!
My “sister” (who’s in my Inner-Circle and has been like a close sister to me for 30+ years, but isn’t actually related) called me in the evening, out of the blue, on V-Day. We only talk a few times per year. Her husband was out of town and she was meeting one of her daughters for dinner.
Although our geographical paths in life have seldom crossed since we first met when she was in High School, our experiences over the years, although 2,500 miles apart, have many similarities. There are two areas in both of our lives that are particularly challenging.
First, we both have encountered a huge, almost identical challenge with one of our daughters. I won’t go into the details, but it’s been gut-wrenching for both of us. We can discuss this topic with each other in a healthy manner.
Second; we both have experienced close relationships in which mental illness has created huge hurdles in those relationships. Again, I won’t go into the details, but relationships with people who have some type of mental illness, is also, gut wrenching.
Both of these challenges sadden me greatly!
Interestingly, my sister has many of the upsides of a spectacular person (caring, intelligent, great mom, great spouse, successful career she built from the ground up, etc.), but doesn’t seem to have the downsides that often accompany this portfolio of upside attributes.
Thus; I asked her this key question, “What do you think we did differently, that enabled us to cope with life’s difficulties, stresses, setbacks, no time, etc., in a healthy manner, without either one of us needing med’s, therapists, etc.?” How does “nature vs. nurture” fit in?
After about 30 minutes of insightful conversation, it reminded me, she’s part of my Inner-Circle for many reasons. One of them is because she professionally, intelligently and confidently, tells me things I don’t always want to hear, but need to hear.
She provides me information to help me get better and surround me with better people; not affirmation that just makes me feel good to just falsely elevate my less than stellar DMQ.
The Intersection: This leads us directly into the intersection of the Peter Principle and how our DMQ enables it to play out with our Inner-Circles.
- We bring and keep people in our Inner-Circles as long as they rise up to, but not beyond our DMQ, unless our DMQ is 8.5 or higher.
- Once they rise above our DMQ (if it’s an 8.4 or lower), we become intimidated, uncomfortable, etc., so we jettison them out of our Inner-Circles and replace them with people with whom we’re more comfortable (i.e. 0.0 to 8.4’s).
Interestingly; if the “owner” of the Inner-Circle has a DMQ of 0.0 to 8.4, and the person leaving the Inner-Circle is an 8.5 or higher, the owner will often justify why the change was needed. And, “yes”, the 0.0 to 8.4 does genuinely believe they’re “right. Thus; the Peter Principle is hard at work.
Our Inner-Circles temporarily rises beyond our level of competence (Peter Principle) and
then regresses back to its natural level where we feel comfortable, in control, etc.
Critical #1: If you’re a Top-7%’er, you’re constantly looking for people that make you better and the Peter Principle does not apply to you.
Critical #2: The DMQ Circular Loop Syndrome will be hard at work.
For example: If you think your Inner-Circle is a 9.0 (10.0 = theoretically perfect),
but your Objective-DMQ is a 5.0,
your Decision, about your Inner-Circle being a 9.0 is inaccurate; yet,
you’re confident you’re right
(and the circular loop continues).
This lack of an “accurate mirror” of our DMQ creates a whole host of issues; that I discuss elsewhere and in my holistic leadership book.
Social Impact and Your Inner-Circle
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If you and your Inner-Circle would
like to donate $1M+ to your favorite charities,
we can help you get that done.
Who changes the world?
I believe it’s almost exclusively the Top-7%.
They are the only ones with the Talent Portfolios and social consciences needed to actually implement significant positive social impact.
If you believe you’re one of these executives, we’d love to explore possible opportunities.
Get MAD! Get Making A Difference! ~ JR
