The Peter Principle

Laurence Johnston Peter was a Canadian educator.  He is best known, however, as the man who initially formulated the Peter principle.  The Peter Principle is a concept in management that theorises that in any hierarchy, people tend to rise to their level of incompetence; people are promoted based on their perceived success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they can no longer appear competent, since the skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.  In reality, promotion is often based on the ability of some to market themselves better than others.  These are still considerations in modern management. 

Laurence Peter famously said, “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.”