There is no fool proof way to select people for promotion the proof of which is the number of fools promoted. There is a £ multi billion business based on getting the right people in the right jobs so you wouldn’t expect highly paid head hunters to welcome research from the University of Catania in Sicily which claims to demonstrate promoting people at random is more efficient. This is an extension of the Peter Principle in which organisations promote people to their level of incompetence. The idea being that the main reason for promoting someone is their performance in their current job rather than an assessment of their ability to do the job they are being considered for. You keep promoting them until they are in a post they are clearly incompetent at. Then there is the catch 22 of promotion which states that the best candidates for senior management posts are those who don’t apply because they are showing a high degree of insight into their own abilities and are not seeking status and power. The catch is that you have to want the job to get it but if you want it you are clearly unsuitable. .
Blair McPherson author of UnLearning management published by Russell House www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
