The rules you accept. The rules you impose.

"People are promoted to their highest level of incompetence"

A management theory by Dr Lawrence Peter suggesting that in hierarchical organizations, employees rise through promotions until they reach a position where they can no longer perform effectively. Each new role requires different skills and competencies than the previous one. Eventually, the role demands more than they can deliver.  At this point, promotions stop, leaving them permanently stuck at their "level of incompetence."

I see it differently. Incompetence isn’t accidental, it’s engineered for control and security.  A pattern designed to funnel power, influence and rewards.

Placing incompetents in roles serves 2 purposes.

1-   Control. Pressure erodes confidence and people who doubt themselves make obedient puppets.

2-   Security. Create your competition with weak subordinates and prolong your stay at the top.

Social hierarchy works the same. Relationships built on check lists and agendas. It’s baked into human interaction whether you’re aware of it or not. Where you fit in the puzzle determines your journey. First class - Business Class -Economy.

A 6 surrounded by 3s and 4s, looks like a 9.

An average flanked by the weak, looks like an alpha.

It’s strategy. To control, avoid being overshadowed and dictate dynamics.

Insecurity masquerading as dominance. It’s not confidence, it’s camouflage.

We’ve all played on this chess board at some point, like NPC’s programmed to follow a script. Trained to endure, not pivot. Endurance keeps you in place. Pivoting creates possibilities.

For those who refuse to play this clown game, they understand a universal truth.

We’re not paid for the value we create but the value we control.

Ownership is leverage. Hard work alone won’t get you a seat at the table. Salary, wages and growth are ceilings dictated by puppet masters. Caps decided by stakeholders who have weaponised loyalty, morality and sacrifice to create a slave hive with the promise of “some day”.

The system isn’t broken, it was built this way. A system that rewards just enough to keep you interested but small enough to keep you reliant on it.

It’s why accountability is a superpower. Extreme ownership forces a mind shift to stop accepting their rules and start imposing yours.

Buy shares in the company or build your own. Create your own hierarchy and:

·      Reinforce it with daily habits.

·      Fuel it with self improvement

·      Refuse to submit.

The 3am gym session before a 12-hour shift.

The late-night grinds while others sleep.

The cold calls. The “No’s”. The lonely chapter.

All for something that has a higher chance of failing than succeeding.

But for the builder…the architect…the engineer? The fear of shackles outweighs the fear of failure.

The Latin proverb “If the wind will not serve, take to the oars” resonates with them.

They are building a life where they will only accept the rules that serve them and impose their own wherever they can.

They will promote themselves to their highest level of incompetence and be compensated for the value they control.

Some will make it. Others won’t.

But it won’t matter because the shackle is heavier than the fail.

The wind is fickle.

But the oars are ready.