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To Be or Not To Be When is it time to refuse a promotion, is it ever time to refuse a promotion, and who's Peter?

While reading the Daily Round-Up (the sites I generally read every morning, including Daynoters, news sites, and a couple of comics) I spotted an intriguing headline on SlashDot; Getting Fired for Not Taking a Promotion? (Link to story without comments)

For those unwilling to put up with Slashdot long enough to read the story, the person submitting the story is the #2 person in a 6-7 person IT department for the branch of a large company. The IT Manager is leaving the company for unspecified reasons, and the company intends to promote the second-in-command into the Manager's position. This person (their Slashdot name is iKantBelieveThis, from here on iKBT) doesn't want the promotion and the headaches that go with it, and claims that the company has told them they will be fired if they don't accept the promotion. So they're asking SlashDot users for assistance in figuring out their best course of action. No, I don't know where they got that idea. <G>

I did take a quick look through some of the highest-ranked suggestions; most say to leave, since iKBT wouldn't be happy there in either role now. A few simply say "take the promotion and the pay raise, stupid" or words to that effect; the highest-ranked reply suggests giving the company an ultimatum, since they'd be hired in days by any other company.

Now, I don't know the whole situation, and I'm not that interested in this specific case; but it did make me think. After all, I'm interviewing for this kind of position (IT Manager, that is) and I have several friends in management positions in various fields. What happens when you're offered a promotion, and what if you're not ready for it?

The Peter Principle (sometimes called the Dilbert Principle) says that the standard promotion system creates more problems than it solves. As people are promoted for good performance in their jobs, eventually they reach a point where they're promoted beyond their abilities. At that point, they're no longer promoted, since they're no longer performing well. This gives rise to the stereotypical "idiot in middle management", since it leaves the middle-manager positions littered with people pushed beyond their abilities. Consequently, the best excel, continue getting promotions, and end up in top positions for various corporations, leaving the incompetents behind. From this viewpoint, iKBT is probably doing the smart thing; they probably won't do well as the IT Manager (just look at their view of what the job entails; "headaches, political bickering, and hostile fire"), and so they'd just as soon stay in a position they know and are comfortable with.

The problem with this outlook, and with the Peter Principle, is that it's tough to judge just what is beyond a person's capacity. I've always been willing to step up to the plate and at least take a swing at the ball (OK, bad analogy; baseball was never my game <G>) on the theory that what I don't know, I'll learn. I've also heard repeatedly, and believed, that you're never ready to take the next step; nothing can truly prepare you for the experience of the next job, the next promotion, and all you can do is take the plunge, so to speak. I heard a military naval officer once say that you're never ready for command, and the people who think they are should never have it; just the same, the day comes when you're offered command, and you'd better take it. Once rejected, it'll never come your way again.

Let's look at my situation; I've been Senior Systems Administrator. I've been de facto IT Manager. I've managed people, budgets, hardware, software, and corporate expectations. In short, I've done every part of the IT Manager's role. Doesn't that mean I'm prepared and ready to be, in fact, the IT Manager? No, not really. What it means is that I've handled the job duties, and I know the mechanics of the position. If I say so myself, I've done well with all of it. But what I've never had is the actual title, the final responsibility; there's always been someone else, the CTO or the Program Manager or Headquarters that had the final say-so. That's an important part of the job; using the naval officer's terms, it's the difference between Officer of the Deck and Commanding Officer. The Officer of the Deck may be the one actually conning the ship, but if he/she puts the ship on a sandbar, it's the CO's responsibility. I think I'm ready for it. I've done everythng I can do short of it; I've been the Officer of the Deck many times, I've been the Executive Officer, now the next step is to take command and see what happens. But am I really ready? No. No one could be. I know I can do all the jobs, but the responsibility is something you can never prepare for. I know this much; when the job is offered, I'll take it.

But is the Peter Principle right? If I fail as IT Manager, does that mean I should have stayed a Senior Systems Administrator? Is it true that if I keep accepting promotions for good performance, eventually my performance won't be good enough?

I don't think so. "Man's Reach Should Exceed His Grasp". It's not enough to look at the stars, you have to reach for them. OK, you might miss, but it's better to have tried and not succeeded than to fail through lack of trying. OK, the Peter Principle means you may end up with people in positions they're simply not capable of doing; you may even be one of those people. That's not the fault of the person in that position; it's the fault of the person who put them there, or more likely, the corporate policy that put them there. Corporate policy often means that seniority is the determining factor in promotions rather than ability; and if someone is in the position their abilities suit them for, eventually, their seniority is going to militate that they be promoted. It's only when they reach a position where they're actually incompetent that the deserving people can actually be promoted.

Ignoring those situations Corporate Policy screw up (which is something many corporate policies almost seem designed to do), it's the job of the people making the promotions to determine who is well-suited for the job and who isn't. In iKBT's situation, their managers should have sat down with them early on and discussed this eventuality, and discovered that iKBT really didn't want the Manager's job. (There's another problem here, but we'll get to that in a moment.) Then quietly determine who in the department is ready for the position and willing to take it, with the assistance of iKBT. Everyone's happy. Likewise, it's the responsibility of those people to determine who's in over their heads in their current positions, and see if there's a humane way to handle it. Perhaps a position that's nominally a promotion or a lateral move, but carries less responsibility and pressure; maybe it's possible to move the person down into a position they're better suited for without bad feelings. Sometimes, the only possible solution is to move the person out of the company, preferably with assistance in finding a better job elsewhere.

What were the problems with iKBT's situation? Well, the position of second-in-command is really a training role. The person in that position is or should be someone capable of taking over as the IT Manager, and not only if the IT Manager should leave. That person should be there because the IT Manager and the senior management believe that person will someday be the IT Manager or equivalent, and putting them in that position is the best way to train them for the responsibility of the lead role. iKBT may be an excellent second in command, but there can only be one second; and the training aspects of that role are too valuable to waste on someone who will never take that step. Although firing is too extreme, the company iKBT works for is justified in not wanting them in that role.

So really, the Peter Principle is true, but it shouldn't be. Employees are only human - even managers - and they should be managed and promoted by humans, not by corporate policy. It's not the people making the Peter Principle come true.

And iKBT needs to find a job, within the company or somewhere else, where they're comfortable in the position they're in. If they're not willing to move on to the next step, fine - but don't get in the way of people who are.