Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Government employee unions Date:   11/19/2016 4:22:28 PM

Yes, I am familar with the Peter Principle.  And for a lot of years, it drove my career, because I knew I could do a better job than most of my bosses in those years.  But I don't think it is exclusive to the government.  I have known some incompetents, but I have also known some really great leaders to, both career people and in appointees.  One example was Gordon England.  He was the Deputy Secretary of Defense under Rumsfelt and was in industry before that.  Brilliant man and practical. 

I had a AF Major who worked for me for a time.  A Howard University alum, he was incompetent, he didn't make friends with the other AF officers in the office, and I believed he had just been passed along from rank to rank, to satisfy someone's EEO requirement.  He claimed I was trying to end his career when I gave him an eval, damning him with faint praise.  I had no control over whether the AF would continue to promote him or not.

You know, I run into to all the time.  At the bank, where the customer service person can't seem to answer the simplest question without calling someone else, I find it in retail, etc.  And those are places were people could easily be fired.  I think it has to do with managers that just don't want to deal with the unpleasantness of actually teaching people, correcting people, firing people.  They settle for mediocre.