Many of my readers (at least two!) may be familar with the long-established Peter Principle which states that in many organizations, people rise to - and are left at - the level of their incompetence. And I'm sure that we can think of many examples in our own corporate experiences.
Now, dear readers, I would like to propose the (Karin Jean-)Pierre Principle which states:
Promoting someone based on their identity, rather than ability, leads almost inevitably to incompetence which you are unable to fire.
For evidence, I'd like to offer the examples:
- The titular Karin Jean-Pierre, promoted to White House Press Sec based on being black and a lesbian. If anyone would like to argue that ability featured in this promo, I'm all ears.
- Kamala Harris as VP of the USA. Heaven help us.
- Pete Buttgig as Sec of Transportation, advising all Americans to buy electric cars to save money.
- Keisha Lance-Bottoms as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia; subsequently failing-up to be senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
- Jayson Blair, former staff writer at the New York Times; they were eventually able to fire him but my goodness, it was hard going.
