Re:Petered (what happens after the Peter Principle)
by jrm4 on Sunday November 08, 2026 @01:47PM
(#50415859)
Yes. More big picture though. I suppose this might work laterally, but in my mind it's usually someone "above" you in the pecking order, who is perhaps less intelligent or less effective etc. than you, but it takes some time to realize this, precisely because they are "good at" projecting authority, either through false competence or plain old fear etc.
Someone above you tells you you did something wrong or poorly. Your first instinct is to believe because you implicitly trust their authority. You might do some homework and are like "wait a minute, no, I actually did this right." Then you might look for other reasons. "I did the thing right." So THEN you start looking at the communications, where did the boss get this idea? Now I need to fix THAT?
The boss responds, and the follow-up you gave gets NO RESPONSE. Instead, as if you had said nothing at all, the boss makes a severe move and orders you to work differently.
What is going on? THAT doesn't really line up either. Literally trying to do that move is worse.
And after some time you begin to Occam's razor your way into the truth.
The boss is clueless and/or incompetent. Or just doesn't care. Either way, they're the impostor, not you.They recieved some small bit information in your space, and it sounded bad to them, and they just dumped that issue on to you -- with a combination of any of: a lack of intelligence, a lack of good information, their own fear, and the ability to make it your problem.
This is purely hypothetical and absolutely did not happen to me of course. Nope. :)
Someone above you tells you you did something wrong or poorly. Your first instinct is to believe because you implicitly trust their authority. You might do some homework and are like "wait a minute, no, I actually did this right." Then you might look for other reasons. "I did the thing right." So THEN you start looking at the communications, where did the boss get this idea? Now I need to fix THAT?
The boss responds, and the follow-up you gave gets NO RESPONSE. Instead, as if you had said nothing at all, the boss makes a severe move and orders you to work differently.
What is going on? THAT doesn't really line up either. Literally trying to do that move is worse.
And after some time you begin to Occam's razor your way into the truth.
The boss is clueless and/or incompetent. Or just doesn't care. Either way, they're the impostor, not you.They recieved some small bit information in your space, and it sounded bad to them, and they just dumped that issue on to you -- with a combination of any of: a lack of intelligence, a lack of good information, their own fear, and the ability to make it your problem.
This is purely hypothetical and absolutely did not happen to me of course. Nope. :)