Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The story behind The Peter Principle book
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The story behind The Peter Principle book
In 1969, a satirical book, The Peter Principle, suggested promotion led to incompetence.
It was written by a Canadian Professor of Education, Dr Laurence J Peter and playwright Raymond Hull.
The book was a parody of management theory, but its core message struck a chord with many: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence".
It became an instant classic, selling millions of copies around the world.
In 2021, Alex Last told the story of how Dr Peter came up with his theory using an archive interview he gave to the BBC in 1974.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Dr Laurence J Peter. Credit: Getty Images)
View all episodes
By BBC World Service
4.5
902902 ratings
In 1969, a satirical book, The Peter Principle, suggested promotion led to incompetence.
It was written by a Canadian Professor of Education, Dr Laurence J Peter and playwright Raymond Hull.
The book was a parody of management theory, but its core message struck a chord with many: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence".
It became an instant classic, selling millions of copies around the world.
In 2021, Alex Last told the story of how Dr Peter came up with his theory using an archive interview he gave to the BBC in 1974.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Dr Laurence J Peter. Credit: Getty Images)
More shows like Witness History
View all
Global News Podcast
7,608 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
376 Listeners
Business Daily
525 Listeners
More or Less
882 Listeners
Newshour
1,048 Listeners
World Business Report
294 Listeners
In Our Time
5,481 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,799 Listeners
History Extra podcast
3,198 Listeners
The History Hour
585 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,097 Listeners
Great Lives
484 Listeners
The Interview
357 Listeners
Lives Less Ordinary
589 Listeners
Discovery
975 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
413 Listeners
The Inquiry
744 Listeners
The Life Scientific
237 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
846 Listeners
Evil Genius with Russell Kane
372 Listeners
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
232 Listeners
Elis James and John Robins
323 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,152 Listeners
Sport's Strangest Crimes
68 Listeners
Uncanny
838 Listeners
Dua Lipa: At Your Service
996 Listeners
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
505 Listeners
Believe in Magic
623 Listeners
History's Heroes
503 Listeners
The Global Story
272 Listeners
Miss Me?
261 Listeners
The Explanation
25 Listeners
The History Podcast
63 Listeners
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
78 Listeners