When the boss does more harm than good.

[Spectre38]

Without going into too much detail...

My boss assigned a project to myself and a coworker. The project involves coordinating some material acquisition and transfers between several divisions of the company in four countries, involving three different logistics companies. With the state of supply chains, it is imperative that we get this accomplished.

Apparently the project wasn't moving as fast as the boss would have liked, so instead of talking with us, he decided to throw his weight around and has now caused a lot of problems.

One of the logistics companies claims that the steps taken by our boss has violated the contract we have with them. One of the other divisions is now saying that they don't have the material available ( which they did yesterday, prior to the boss' involvement. )

Now the boss is frustrated with me and my coworker. I have a feeling this is going to take some work to straighten out. Had he just stayed out of things, we would have been fine.

Anyone else experienced something like this? Frustrating.

[saxo3]

That is called the Peter Principle



"The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another." (source: Wikipedia)

[JParm]

Originally Posted by saxo3

That is called the Peter Principle

I hadn't heard of the Peter Principle before but just read up on it - thanks for that! It's definitely an interesting thought.

Paul, good luck to you and hang in there with that meddling boss!

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

I hadn't heard of the Peter Principle before but just read up on it - thanks for that! It's definitely an interesting thought.

Pretty hilarious concept back in the day.

Everyone rises to the level of incompetence.

And the ones that don't rise are already incompetent because otherwise they would be promoted.

The Peter Principle, Murphy's Law and the Law of Gravity.

Laws to live by.

[brandrea]

You’re boss sounds like a micro manager

How long have you worked for this person?

[binArt]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

I hadn't heard of the Peter Principle before but just read up on it - thanks for that! It's definitely an interesting thought.

Paul, good luck to you and hang in there with that meddling boss!

An MBA mainstay.

[JParm]

Originally Posted by binArt

An MBA mainstay.

Haha, I'm a USC MBA and we never discussed that one...though I might have slept through it.

[Spectre38]

Originally Posted by brandrea

You’re boss sounds like a micro manager

How long have you worked for this person?

Brian,

He moved into this position almost a year ago, replacing my former boss who retired. He had no experience in this division and is "learning by trial and error" as he says.

Paul

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Spectre38

Brian,

He moved into this position almost a year ago, replacing my former boss who retired. He had no experience in this division and is "learning by trial and error" as he says.

Paul

That’s really a lousy spot you’re in Paul.

You would’ve thought with such a major undertaking that the boss would’ve consulted with the team on a timeline with weekly update reports or some such thing.

Hope things work out for you Paul. It’s sounds like an interesting and challenging project. Too bad that it’s gone south.

[binArt]

Originally Posted by Spectre38

Brian,

He moved into this position almost a year ago, replacing my former boss who retired. He had no experience in this division and is "learning by trial and error" as he says.

Paul

Your bosses boss also appears to be a Peter principle promotion.

[ktm898]

I feel maybe his attitude was more of a issue than involvement.

[KathleenL]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Pretty hilarious concept back in the day.

Everyone rises to the level of incompetence.

And the ones that don't rise are already incompetent because otherwise they would be promoted.

The Peter Principle, Murphy's Law and the Law of Gravity.

Laws to live by.

Before I retired, it seemed to me that (at least in State government), the incompetents were promoted to management positions, because then they didn't have any real work to do, so they had fewer opportunities to screw things up.

Of course, the folks who reported to them didn't have anyone upon whom they could rely for advice and direction when needed...

[saxo3]

Originally Posted by KathleenL

Before I retired, it seemed to me that (at least in State government), the incompetents were promoted to management positions, because then they didn't have any real work to do, so they had fewer opportunities to screw things up.

Of course, the folks who reported to them didn't have anyone upon whom they could rely for advice and direction when needed...

That is called the Dilbert Principle



"The Dilbert principle is a concept in management developed by Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, which states that companies tend to systematically promote incompetent employees to management to get them out of the workflow. The Dilbert principle is inspired by the Peter principle, which holds that employees are promoted based on success in their current position until they reach their "level of incompetence" and are no longer promoted. Under the Dilbert principle, employees who were never competent are promoted to management to limit the damage they can do." (source: Wikipedia)

[BNA/LION]

What a cluster F! Been in those situations and fortunately will never be in one ever again thanks to retirement.

Best of Luck getting things sorted out.

[Spectre38]

Originally Posted by BNA/LION

What a cluster F! Been in those situations and fortunately will never be in one ever again thanks to retirement.

Best of Luck getting things sorted out.

I can't wait for the day I can retire, Larry. Unfortunately it's a long way off.

[77T]

Originally Posted by Spectre38

I can't wait for the day I can retire, Larry. Unfortunately it's a long way off.

There is another allegory/
the best way to get rid of a toxic boss:
Do exactly what they say…
…and document each time they say it.

Good luck in your next career step - maybe time to update resumè and upgrade your future.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[DJ TT 2002]

I expected this thread to be about high priced
Springsteen tickets…….

[Moondoggy]

This is why i have always said to myself, i never want to work for anymore and I don't want anyone working for me.

[donas]

Originally Posted by Spectre38

Brian,

He moved into this position almost a year ago, replacing my former boss who retired. He had no experience in this division and is "learning by trial and error" as he says.

Paul

There was once a time I was the SWAT Commander for my department and the leadership thought it would be smart to have me report to a deputy chief that had zero tactical experience and worse yet, not even care or want to learn it. My days in that position grew short quickly! I took it as a good sign to retire; I haven't looked back with an ounce of remorse.

Even funnier, when I retired, they gave the SWAT Commander position to a person not on SWAT with minimal experience. Shortly after that, this new non-SWAT SWAT Commander decided it was a good idea to bring in another person with no tactical experience to be in charge of purchasing and issuing SWAT equipment. They are a complete dumpster fire now. So, don't feel bad, it's everywhere. I could write a book with all the stupid crap I had to deal with during my career (I'm sure most the other LE's on TRF would have just about the same stories, LOL)

[Andad]

Originally Posted by Moondoggy

This is why i have always said to myself, i never want to work for anymore and I don't want anyone working for me.

I can see why.

[mountainjogger]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Pretty hilarious concept back in the day.

Everyone rises to the level of incompetence.

And the ones that don't rise are already incompetent because otherwise they would be promoted.

The Peter Principle, Murphy's Law and the Law of Gravity.

Laws to live by.

You forgot one. Anytime someone says I didn't do it for the money, they did it for the money. Bombers Law, George Higgins Fantastic book, btw.

[Speedbird-1]

"The boss, isn't always right...but he's always the boss".

[Laszlo]

Originally Posted by Spectre38

Brian,

He moved into this position almost a year ago, replacing my former boss who retired. He had no experience in this division and is "learning by trial and error" as he says.

Paul

Lean on this since these are his words. He’s clearly admitting accountability. And you can gently remind him of this just by leaning on this statement to spin around the situation.