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The Peter Prescription; How to Be Creative, Confident and Competent
Blending wit and wisdom, Dr. Peter discusses the need for individuals to realize their potential if they are to achieve happiness in life
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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About the author
Laurence J. Peter
37 books79 followersDr. Laurence J. Peter was an educator and "hierarchiologist," best known to the general public for the formulation of the Peter Principle.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 12, 2021
I’ve read Peter's Principle many years ago. I found it refreshing, innovative in its way of cutting through so many irrelevant business books. Despite being ironic and in a format similar to Murphy’s Law type of book, I think that it contains a lot of truth (even though it was material for an article and not for a whole book to fill).
Yesterday I re-read it, searched for another Peter book and found this one. As I expected,It is not up to scratch the best-seller. Where the other one was lucid, irreverent, thoughtful, this one can be read for moments as a self-help book or as a plain vanilla business book for managers (two of Peter’s prescriptions are to put individual goals that match group goals and design goals that can be measured...).
Probably, as happened to De Bono with his six hats and to other authors, Peter was trapped in his own creation. If you read Wikipedia profile you’ll find that all his work is based on that first home run that would never repeat. I was disappointed when I found out also that the main premise was written almost with the same words by others like José Ortega y Gasset: Peter took the concept and stretched it into a career (Daniel Goleman with emotional intelligence is another example of this).
That said, the best thing about this book is the quality of its quotes. I knew some of them but they are excellent, right on point, and make the reader appropriately uncomfortable (sort of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary). Maybe the spirit of the first book lives there, in that precious anthology. I marked almost all of them (40/50) and shar below, to show you what I mean:
“The sale has but one master, the ambitious man has as many masters as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortune (J. de la Bruyere).
“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status” (L. Peter)
“Men have become the tools of their tools” (H. Thoreau)
“As machine get to be more and more like men, men will come to be more and more like machines.” (J. Krutch)
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation (H. Thoreau)
“Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies” (F. Burgess)
“Each one has to find his peace from within, and peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” (M. Gandhi)
The average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but a transference of bones from one graveyard to another (J. Frank Dobie)
“May you live all the days of your life” (J. Swift)
“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second (L. Smith)
“There’s more credit and satisfaction in being a first rate truck-driver than a tenth-rate executive.” (B. C. Forbes)
“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day” (R. Frost).
“Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, conscience.” (G. Washington).
“There is great ability in knowing how to conceal ability.” (F. La Rochefoucauld)
“The person who uses a lot of big words is not trying to inform you; he’s trying to impress you” (O. Miller)
“The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.” (O. Goldsmith)
“Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny.” (E. Hubbard)
“The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully” (W. Lippmann)
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else.” (L. Peter)
“Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal,” (F. Nietzsche)
“To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.” (J. Collins)
“Definitions would be good things if we did not use words to make them.” (J. Rousseau)
“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.” (A. Jay)
“To the small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify we give the name knowledge” (A. Bierce)
“There’s only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there’s no road back from the ridiculous to the sublime.” (L. Feuchtwanger)
“The trouble with our age is all signposts and no destination.” (L. Kronenberger)
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” (F. Voltaire)
“Under certain conditions, men respond as powerfully to fictions as they do to realities, and in many cases, they help to create the very fictitious to which they respond.” (W. Lippmann)
“Pay is a status symbol that can satisfy esteem and recognition needs and because of this be an important reward.” (E. Lawler III)
“The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper (E. Phillpotts).
“The whole is simpler than the sum of its parts.” (W. Gibbs)
“Don’t forget until too late that the business of life is not business, but lining.” (B. C. Forbes)
Yesterday I re-read it, searched for another Peter book and found this one. As I expected,It is not up to scratch the best-seller. Where the other one was lucid, irreverent, thoughtful, this one can be read for moments as a self-help book or as a plain vanilla business book for managers (two of Peter’s prescriptions are to put individual goals that match group goals and design goals that can be measured...).
Probably, as happened to De Bono with his six hats and to other authors, Peter was trapped in his own creation. If you read Wikipedia profile you’ll find that all his work is based on that first home run that would never repeat. I was disappointed when I found out also that the main premise was written almost with the same words by others like José Ortega y Gasset: Peter took the concept and stretched it into a career (Daniel Goleman with emotional intelligence is another example of this).
That said, the best thing about this book is the quality of its quotes. I knew some of them but they are excellent, right on point, and make the reader appropriately uncomfortable (sort of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary). Maybe the spirit of the first book lives there, in that precious anthology. I marked almost all of them (40/50) and shar below, to show you what I mean:
“The sale has but one master, the ambitious man has as many masters as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortune (J. de la Bruyere).
“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status” (L. Peter)
“Men have become the tools of their tools” (H. Thoreau)
“As machine get to be more and more like men, men will come to be more and more like machines.” (J. Krutch)
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation (H. Thoreau)
“Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies” (F. Burgess)
“Each one has to find his peace from within, and peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” (M. Gandhi)
The average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but a transference of bones from one graveyard to another (J. Frank Dobie)
“May you live all the days of your life” (J. Swift)
“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second (L. Smith)
“There’s more credit and satisfaction in being a first rate truck-driver than a tenth-rate executive.” (B. C. Forbes)
“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day” (R. Frost).
“Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, conscience.” (G. Washington).
“There is great ability in knowing how to conceal ability.” (F. La Rochefoucauld)
“The person who uses a lot of big words is not trying to inform you; he’s trying to impress you” (O. Miller)
“The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.” (O. Goldsmith)
“Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny.” (E. Hubbard)
“The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully” (W. Lippmann)
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else.” (L. Peter)
“Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal,” (F. Nietzsche)
“To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.” (J. Collins)
“Definitions would be good things if we did not use words to make them.” (J. Rousseau)
“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.” (A. Jay)
“To the small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify we give the name knowledge” (A. Bierce)
“There’s only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there’s no road back from the ridiculous to the sublime.” (L. Feuchtwanger)
“The trouble with our age is all signposts and no destination.” (L. Kronenberger)
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” (F. Voltaire)
“Under certain conditions, men respond as powerfully to fictions as they do to realities, and in many cases, they help to create the very fictitious to which they respond.” (W. Lippmann)
“Pay is a status symbol that can satisfy esteem and recognition needs and because of this be an important reward.” (E. Lawler III)
“The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper (E. Phillpotts).
“The whole is simpler than the sum of its parts.” (W. Gibbs)
“Don’t forget until too late that the business of life is not business, but lining.” (B. C. Forbes)
July 21, 2014
Great follow up to the original. In some ways more useful, in some ways less.
as a manager in real life, i think the prescriptions are extremely useful but not everyone may get the same kicks. A bit more political philosophy ingrained in this one than the previous.
Theres a bit of pseudo sexist things in the beginning of the book, which is mostly Peter extolling his political virtues. Not the most relevant section, but most of the book is the actual prescriptions. The prescriptions range from obvious to not so obvious, but management theory has spent 30-40 years maturing since this book has been written and nowadays most corporate trainings would touch upon some aspects of this.
I also enjoyed the humorous anecdotes on the effects the Peter Principle had in his real life
Definitely not as enlightening as the original, but a worthy read. The quote selection particularly improved.
as a manager in real life, i think the prescriptions are extremely useful but not everyone may get the same kicks. A bit more political philosophy ingrained in this one than the previous.
Theres a bit of pseudo sexist things in the beginning of the book, which is mostly Peter extolling his political virtues. Not the most relevant section, but most of the book is the actual prescriptions. The prescriptions range from obvious to not so obvious, but management theory has spent 30-40 years maturing since this book has been written and nowadays most corporate trainings would touch upon some aspects of this.
I also enjoyed the humorous anecdotes on the effects the Peter Principle had in his real life
Definitely not as enlightening as the original, but a worthy read. The quote selection particularly improved.
July 10, 2021
Genius!
March 24, 2014
This is a sequel to a previous volume "The Peter Principle" that provided clear stepping stones as to how to reach the point in ones life that will require the application of the Peter Prescription. One can be read independently from the other.
The Peter Principle outlined the evolution of what will happen quite naturally in the course of the upward trajectory of your career. After many upward steps and promotions you will reach your perfect level of incompetence. This will be recognized by all, and there you will stay, or since you are now miserable, you may decline the promotion, quit or read the Peter Prescription and save yourself and your soul.
Some may say it is dated...but Ha, Ha to them!
The Peter Principle outlined the evolution of what will happen quite naturally in the course of the upward trajectory of your career. After many upward steps and promotions you will reach your perfect level of incompetence. This will be recognized by all, and there you will stay, or since you are now miserable, you may decline the promotion, quit or read the Peter Prescription and save yourself and your soul.
Some may say it is dated...but Ha, Ha to them!
October 17, 2020
I've always remembered the part about people rising to their level of incompetence. Very interesting.
October 11, 2021
Review pending
May 5, 2015
This is a prescription for avoiding the Peter Principle. It has some good suggestions and offers good insight into human behavior. However, as with the Peter Principle, the actual implementation of such ideas is rather impractical, except on a limited basis by some members in a community.
February 4, 2008
Amazing book about the problems of our day (1970s) and what will happen if we don't change our way... pretty creepy...
July 27, 2012
I chose to read this instead of a third Adam Smith's A Wealth of Nations. 20 some odd years later I'm reading A Wealth of Nations.
July 15, 2015
Some interesting insights and entertaining but not up to the first one.
January 23, 2016
OK follow-up to Peter Principle. Unavoidably outdated in part, but generally good information, and an excellent compendium of quotable quotes.
December 4, 2016
It was not as good as the original Peter Principle.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews