The Peter Principle in Practice

To incompetence... and beyond!

I try not to use this space to complain about my job. It's not the focus of this blog, it's not my job's fault that it's soul-shatteringly boring, and most crucially, I already spend seven and a half hours a day, five days a week, thinking about my job. Which is vastly more than it deserves. But sometimes it intrudes on the important parts of my life. Like this week.

Now, my job is (in my opinion) not that hard. It requires a lot of attention to detail, a great deal of organization, and some basic math and people skills. And, I have to admit, I don't do it all that well. I feel guilty about that, but the fact is I find the work so boring that I can't concentrate on it for more than an hour at a time, and I hate the basic point of what I do so much that if I examine it too closely I become consumed with anger and have to stop for a while. So I do not do my job well. I do it mediocrely. And I'm ashamed of that, but as I need a job, I continue to do this one.

But this week I learned that it is possible to be worse at my job, while at the same time trying harder. It's the Peter Principle (in a hierarchy, an individual will rise to the level of their incompetency) playing out in front of me. You see, my company fired someone last week who did the exact same job as me. They assigned me several of her clients. And despite the fact that she was constantly working, constantly doing something, everything I got from her is a mess.

So I don't know whether to be relieved or saddened. Clearly, I could be worse - much worse - at my job. But at the same time, doesn't this mean I could be doing something better, if people this incompetent can be doing my job? (Not that I want a promotion - more responsibility in the same field might drive me to postal-worker levels of rage.) And also, how did someone trying that hard let things get this bad? I'm a slacker, I admit it, but when I make a big mistake or forget something or can't figure something out, I throw myself on the mercy of my boss. Because in the end, I'm responsible for something, no matter how much I despise it.

I don't have any answers, and I apologize for this less-than-lighthearted break from the important business of geekdom. But this week the business of business is pervasive, and besides, I can't buy anymore supplies for my Halloween costumes until I get paid tomorrow.