Note - parts of this post are written "tongue in cheek" - DO NOT TAKE PERSONALLY!

Does officiating prove " The Peter Principle"?

Some years ago I read a book titled The Peter Principle. In a nutshell it said everyone rises to there level of incompetentcy, and that is where they remain. In other words, if you are good at something, you will get promoted to a higher level and continue to be promoted until you reach a level where you are incompetent. The choices then are to go down a level (yeah, right) or to remain at the incompetent level.

We all know, or maybe are offficals who have reached this level. Assigners like to say "the cream rises to the top". Officials who are trying to rise to the top often think the cream at the top is starting to sour.

The question is: How do we know when it is time to quit going up or maybe to step down a level? Have any of you had to do it?

ranjo,
The world operates at a C- level.
"The Peter Principle" lives.
mick

ranjo,

Thanks for the blast from the past. I haven't heard that term (the peter principle) since my college business classes. I see that principle in the company I work for quite a bit.

I know that college referee contracts are "year to year" and assignors only look as good as their officials. For that reason, I would think that college officials (for the most part) aren't hired back unless they perform every year.

For high schools, I guess it depends on the particular ratings system used for your area. One thing I like about our system (peer ratings) is that officials are probably the best judge of when one of their peers is sliding backwards in their officiating ability. I do not know of any system that can completely eliminate politics and a lack of integrity so there will always be exceptions.

Z

Had an old timer tell me once...

"When the coaches you loved working games for because they never complained and just coached their kids all get on your a$$ and stay there all year...it's time to think about cutting back on the big games." :D

Our chapter (Pres and Assignment Sec) gets a lot of feedback from coaches and AD's. I am told that if the complaints start piling up the send evaluators to check them out. They also try, as much as possible, to evaluate a rising star when they are working with the most senior members. Serves a dual purpose of comparing two officials in virtually the same situation and is an opportunity to catch someone who is slipping.