Maxim
People rise to their level of incompetence.
“A man should say, I am not concerned that I have no place, I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.”
Confucianism · Ancient (before 200 BCE)
Translation: public-domain translation (Legge)
A gently humbling observation about organisations: we tend to be promoted until we land in a role we no longer do well. Know your strengths.
Related expressions
“In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
— Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle (1969), with Raymond Hull; checked in the Internet Archive scan of a 1969 UK editionWatch on YouTube: The Peter Principle (BBC, 1974) ↗Laurence J. Peter explains the principle (1974)“If you have assumed any character beyond your strength, you have both demeaned yourself ill in that and quitted one which you might have supported.”
Score
Moral Rank 45.3 · Evidence E = 10.13
E = ln(1+1.63) + √1.63 + 3·1.63 + 1.5·2 = 10.13