Laurence Johnston Peter (September 16, 1919 – January 12, 1990) was a Canadian educator and " hierarchiologist" who is best known to the general public for the formulation of the

Peter principle The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until ...

Biography

Peter was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, the grandson of William Herbert Steves, the founder of

Steveston, British Columbia Steveston, founded in the 1880s, is a neighbourhood of Richmond in Metro Vancouver. On the southwest tip of Lulu Island, the village is a historic port and salmon canning centre at the mouth of the South Arm of the Fraser River. The early 1900s st ...

. Peter began his career as a teacher in Vancouver in 1941. He received the degree of

Doctor of Education The Doctor of Education (Ed.D. or D.Ed.; Latin ''Educationis Doctor'' or ''Doctor Educationis'') is (depending on region and university) a research or professional doctoral degree that focuses on the field of education. It prepares the holder for a ...

from

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

in 1963. In 1966, Peter moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he became an Associate Professor of Education, Director of the Evelyn Frieden Centre for Prescriptive Teaching, and Coordinator of Programs for Emotionally Disturbed Children at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He became widely known in 1969 upon the publication of ''

The Peter Principle The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until ...

'--co-authored by Raymond Hull, also from Vancouver, ', in which he states: "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence... time every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties... Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence." The

became one of the most profound principles of management from the University of Southern California (USC). It is a heavily quoted principle at the

USC Marshall School of Business The USC Marshall School of Business is the business school of the University of Southern California. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In 1997 the school was renamed following a $35 million donation fr ...

. Another notable quotation of his is that the "noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it." From 1985 to his death in 1990, Peter attended and was involved in management of the

Kinetic Sculpture Race Kinetic sculpture races are organized contests of human-powered amphibious all-terrain works of art. The original cross country event, the World Championship Great Arcata To Ferndale Cross Country Kinetic Sculpture Race, now known as the Kinetic ...

in Humboldt County, California. He proposed an award for the race titled "The Golden Dinosaur Award," which has been handed out every year since to the first sculptural machine to utterly break down immediately after the start. Peter died of complications from a stroke at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California, at the age of 70.

Bibliography

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peter, Laurence J. 1919 births 1990 deaths University of Southern California faculty Writers from Vancouver Washington State University alumni Canadian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American educators