The Daring Dufas wrote:

If the "board of directors" I'm stuck with had a fingerprint reading
lock with a retina scanner, they'd probably stick their finger in
their eye trying to open the lock.

*snicker* I know people like that too. How is
it that folks with such dazzling intelligence
always seem to wind up in charge of things?


It's the "Peter Principle." A person does a good job and gets promoted. This
sequence repeats until the person reaches a level at which he is
incompetent. There he stays, doing an incompetent job, until retirement.

Here's how it works at the Houston Police Department.

1. An incompetent manages (through guile, lies, or payoffs) to get past the
probationary period. But his supervisor knows he should not be interacting
with the public. He's assigned in the file room, where he has nothing to do
but study for the sergeant's exam.
2. He aces the exam, and is assigned to the property room. Again, he has
nothing to do but study for the lieutenant's exam.
3. After passing the exam with the highest possible marks, he's assigned to
the academy. This cushy job leaves ample opportunity to study for the
captain's exam.
4. After becoming captain, he's assign to the mayor's security detail where
he can major in brown-nosing the politicians. When an opening for deputy
chief appears, he's the logical candidate.
5. After a couple of years as deputy chief, he gets offered a job as chief
of a smaller city (Omaha, Minneapolis, etc.).
6. With a few years as chief of a medium-sized metropolis, he comes back to
Houston as chief.
7. Then to the Department of Homeland Security, then to retirement.

You'll notice he's never made an arrest or conducted an investigation. I
would say he's never interacted with a criminal, but he's been paling around
with politicians for about ten years.

I heard Lawrence J. Peter give a lecture once. The most memorable line: "I
have been studying government, man and boy, for over forty years. I have yet
to discover whether we are being led by well-meaning fools or by really
intelligent folks who are just putting us on."