Peter Principle

Jamal Madison journal entry

People experience the Peter Principle everyday. In the job field there will be a time when you reach your level of competence. Unfortunately, my level of competence was reached in basketball, during my senior year of high school. The Peter Principle showed me how good I really was in basketball.

I played basketball all of my life. I always thought that I was an above average basketball player. I was proven wrong when I was made a starter for my high school basketball team. I could not handle the job as starting point guard. I was the minion guard during the new basketball season. It was hard for me, because I had a lot of responsibilities. The year before I was just coming off of the bench, I didn't have the leadership factor. I didn't have to do all the things the starters did. Now, that burden was put onto my chest. I had to follow special protocol when it came to the plays. I could not handle it. I just folded under pressure. When I was made starter, my coach told me I had to change a few things in my game. I was an eccentric kind of player. My coach told me to just run plays and be a team leader. When he told that, it was like he dismantled my game. I started to play bad. I had one bad game after another. After awhile, I became indolent. I just did not have the confidence in my game anymore.

I felt like I was moved up in the ladder of hierarchy, and I was not ready for this position. I did not want to tell the coach I did not want to be a starter. My game showed I did not want the position. After awhile, my subordinates did not respect me. The team wanted a new point guard and did not feel sorry for myself.

My level of competence was exposed, when I was made a starter. I think that was good, because now I know that being a starter is not for me. The Peter Principle is a good