Keeping Up Appearances

Keeping Up Appearance or another version of The Peter Principle, except this time the variation is self-imposed.

So, what is this Peter Principle?

The Peter Principle is a concept in management theory in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence."

What this means is that you will continue to be promoted into positions of higher authority and responsibility until you reach that level in which you are found to be incompetent and rather than demote you, you remain in that position and advance no further.

Numerous management consultants and experts believe at the time of this publication (1968) and many still do today believe that this is why we have so many problems in business and continue to experience those problems over and over and over again.

I, for one, have seen this Peter Principle played out more often than I would like to admit during my 45 years in the marketplace doing work. In fact, my last place of employment had place a new manager in a very high ranking in the hierarchy where everyone but 2 reported to this person... and, while on the surface that may seem innocent enough but on one of my visits to seek out employment opportunities, I was told by one of my interviewers that this person used to work for him and that he had recommended his termination to the President several times for gross incompetence.

What is one man's ceiling is another man's floor... as they say.

But, even more insidious than the Peter Principle is the management concept that IBM used to employ on its entry level managers which was also taking place in and around 1968 as well although I do believe it started much earlier than that.

One of the first concepts these new college graduates were told was that the IBM uniform was gray pants, log sleeve white shirt, conservative tie, short hair, and a blue blazer that must be worn at all times when outside of their offices.

After 6 months of employment, these new managers were brought in to their bosses offices where in a few minutes their boss had convinced them that they needed to move into a more reputable community and drive a more reputable vehicle as was fitting for a person in their position. 

After 3-5 years, they were promoted with an substantial pay increase, and after about 6 months they were called into their bosses offices and told that they needed to move again into an even better community and that they needed to upgrade their car as well... implying their continue employment was contingent upon their compliance.

What IBM was doing here was keeping their employees in debt because someone told them or they believed that it was more difficult to change companies when families were in lots of debt than it was when they were not.

Is this practice still going on today?

Well, yes and no... but, this time, it is being imposed on employees by themselves... which is hard to understand but completely understandable... let me explain.

Let's suppose that you have just graduated from college and that during your 4-5 year of incarceration (so to speak) you lived simply and within your means... so, now that you have graduated and you are raking in some coins, you decide to buy yourself either a newer car than you currently own or a brand new one altogether and shortly after that purchase, you decide that you need to live in a better apartment to protect all your new clothes and possessions that you have been buying.

Within a year or two, you realize that you need to make a lot more money to pay off all this debt that you have been acquiring, so you inquire about this with your boss and he/she says maybe a 2-3% raise is in order at the end of the year. So, you do a little research and find you can get $5000/year simply by changing jobs so you tender your 2 week notice.

The same thing happens with this new job in about a year or two, but this time you must move out of State for that big $12000/year increase so you tender your resignation and the same thing happens to you and you discover that there is a company in the same area in the same State in which you used to live and they will pay you $20,000 more to return... so, you tender your 2 week notice and make back to where you were, but this time, you buy a home in a very exclusive neighborhood and invite all your friends over to a backyard bar-b-que to show off your success.

This happens throughout your lifetime and one day you realize that while you are making tons of money that you still have tons of debt and those limitations are constantly putting you into a position where you have the same amount of extra money each month that you had, when you first started out after graduation from college.

But, it is not just the house, the neighborhood, clothes, and cars that does this to you, it is also the number of children you have and what it costs these days to raise them to 18 years old and/or the additional cost that might be incurred through debt if they want to go to college like you did.

Hey... wait a minute... don't forget your health... we are assuming that you have good to excellent health all these years because those out-of-pocket medical expenses can really bite you in the ass sometimes.

Aside from annual check ups, I never went to the doctor for anything, not even the common cold; but, when I turned 60... it was like white water rafting over a waterfall...

Now, I certainly am not trying to tell you how to live your life here... but, how many toys do you really need and of those toys how many are you going to use constantly? It's nice to have a speed boat and jet skis but if you only use them once or twice a year what's the point of having them, other than for the ego of it all when you know the neighbor sees them?

Keeping up appearances is a favorite past time of Americans.