phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

The Pitt Principle

Posted by ESC on November 07, 2002

This is an amazing coincidence. On my way to my government job today, I was pondering why government rewards mediocracy at best and incompetence at worse. Since these qualities are rewarded, they must be the attributes that management wants. But why? Among my morning e-mails was this:

B U Z Z W O R D O F T H E D A Y

PITT PRINCIPLE: The Peter Principle says managers fail because they rise to their level of incompetence. The Pitt Principle says that sometimes incompetence is exactly what the people in charge want. Coined by columnist Paul Krugman in The New York Times in reference to SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt for his repeated efforts to water down SEC enforcement.
Nominated by Mark Worden.

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