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A.Word.A.Day--Peter Principle Pronunciation: WAV or RealAudio Peter Principle (PEET-uhr PRIN-suh-pal) noun The theory that an employee within an organization will advance to his or her level of incompetence and remain there. [After Laurence Johnston Peter (1919-1990).] "To me, Randell personified the Peter Principle, a popular management theory of the 1970s which held that you rise to your level of incompetence - in other words, you keep getting promoted till eventually you find yourself in a job that's beyond you." Karl Du Fresne, Sleeping better thanks to Blackadder, The Evening Post, May 31, 2000. This week's theme: syndromes, paradoxes, laws, and principles. X-Bonus Experience is the comb life gives you after you lose your hair. -Judith Stearn

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