Lately, I’ve been thinking about the Peter Principle, the idea Laurence J. Peter introduced back in 1969. He wrote:
“In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence… [I]n 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.”
Basically, people get promoted until they’re no longer great at their jobs.
It’s a funny and painfully accurate observation about corporate life, but I think it also applies to the part of our minds that resists change.
Our brains literally and figuratively sit at the top of our bodies. Ever since René Descartes declared, “I think, therefore I am,” we’ve treated the mind as the boss of everything, the “head honcho” (pun totally intended). That voice in your head, aka the saboteur. It usually gets the final say.
But ironically, that voice is a perfect example of the Peter Principle in action.
It’s fantastic at keeping us safe. It’s an amazing alarm system, but it’s a terrible strategist. We’ve promoted it to its level of incompetence. Imagine your smoke alarm goes off. It’s important to check to see if there is smoke and where it’s coming from. If there is a real fire, however, you can’t rely on the smoke alarm to put out the fire. You need the fire department that uses proven strategies and techniques to successfully fight the fire.
It’s not that the brain can’t strategize; it’s just that the protective part of it, the one built to keep us safe and maintain the status quo isn’t great at creating change. It’s more of a security guard than a change maker. Most importantly, it was never created to be a change maker!
Let me give you an example.
One of my supervisees, Karina, is a really good coach. But sometimes she holds back when it would actually help her client if she spoke up. The voice in her head, her saboteur warns her not to say anything that might upset her client or make her look wrong. It’s trying to protect her from being fired or embarrassed.
That’s the saboteur doing its job: keeping her safe. But it’s also holding her back.
If Karina could use that voice as a prompt instead of a command, it might actually help her and her client grow. She could take its warning seriously, as something worth exploring, but not stop there. She could get curious, ask her client more questions about their relationship with their boss, and then gather enough information to feel more confident sharing her perspective.
She could even say something like:
“When you talk about your boss, I notice I start making up a story about what’s going on between you two. I don’t know if it’s true, but if it is, maybe we can think through a way to approach him. Would you be open to hearing my thoughts?”
That’s a way of honoring the saboteur’s concerned signal while exploring what is actually true.
Finally, she could check in with herself: Are these fears even true? What are the chances her client would actually fire her for being honest? Often, just stopping and taking a breath helps us realize that those worst-case scenarios aren’t all that realistic. Once that pressure lifts, more creative, confident ideas can surface.
When we treat the saboteur as a starting point instead of the final word, something powerful happens. It does the job it’s meant to do. It can alert us to potential danger without running the whole show. Sometimes, it even ends up being the spark that leads to a breakthrough.
Can you think of a time when your saboteur turned into an ally and helped you make a positive change in your life?
*Here’s a special offer for you in honor of my 75th Birthday on June 1, 2026. I will give away 75 free half hour coaching sessions between now and June 1st. One session to each person who contacts me for a Getting to Know You session. If you’re ready to rewrite your own story or even just thinking about it, let’s get together. Maybe you just want a fresh start for the coming year. Whatever your need, let’s work on it together. And, if you know anybody who could benefit from a free session with me, please send them my way. Thank you all for helping me celebrate this landmark birthday!
Grateful for all the stories we each have to tell,
Judith
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