The reasons why people become incompetent at work

Have you ever wondered why the world is full of so many people who are incredibly incompetent at the very thing are paid to do? If so, a crotchety educationalist called Laurence J Peter may have the answer. Working as a teacher in Canada the 1940s, Peter had been puzzled by the inept behaviour of his equals and superiors. He had applied to join a new school district, for instance, only to have all his forms and documents returned. There was nothing wrong with the application – rather, the Department of Education told him that they could not accept the package since it had not been registered at the Post Office for safe delivery, despite the fact that it had, of course, already arrived safely. How could someone stupid enough to create that rule have found a place in the Department of Education?