Election Demographics and the “Peter Principle”

Study Report

Or, how, we, the citizens of the U.S.A., raise ourselves up to our highest level of incompetence and stay there, while blaming the other guy, especially our political leaders.

If you want to really learn a few new things about this subject, just ask the right questions, and, listen carefully. I did.

As a result,  I have really had an interesting and fun-packed year, using the best of my professional skills (and, still, totally imperfect).

This past year, as the designer and primary researcher of New Horizons’ Possible Human, Possible Society Study, I have, particularly, appreciated my clinical and research background and my passion for understanding group dynamics (i.e. the possible human striving to build the possible society).

What fun I have had! And, how very much I have learned! Not to mention my meeting of interesting people with much to share, if asked the right questions in the right way.

Of course, the bare nitty-gritties of the raw data are still a long way from being analyzed and clarified; our premises interpreted. With that fact in mind, only the topmost from the study can be skimmed off to share at this early date, lest the process be compromised before we are done.

Nonetheless, I offer you this.

So far New Horizons’ Possible Human, Possible Society Study, along with the intriguing observations garnered from programs we have thus far planned and presented (programs to date are listed below), have been afforded us untold opportunities. Working side by side with select individuals actively engaged as possible humans doing community unity building activities, we have learned more than anticipated.

Conclusion (interim): Doing our best with one another to be our best, none of us has been quite able to reach that magical peak at the top of the Mountain of Awe.

(Programs to date are listed as follows –)

• Possible Society In Motion, Dialogue and Dinner event (October 23, 2011);
• Possible Human, Possible Society Think Tank (September, 2011 – January, 2012);
• New Horizons’ (Almost Annual) Abkhazian Dinner event (March 25, 2012);
• The Bus Ride Story Adventure, rehearsal series (May, 2012 – August, 2012);
• Frederick County “Overcoming Polarization” kickoff event (planning process, event cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, September – November, 2012).

So what does this all tell us?

Allow me to answer that question rather obliquely for now, with the promised intent to develop specificity in the future, over time, as appropriate.

Conclusion follows (interim):  

Remember the best seller, The Peter Principle, way back when?

That book and the related study it was based upon presented an illuminating perspective on how people in organizations keep moving up the organizational ladder until they outstretch their optimum capabilities, leading, next, to their reaching their highest levels of incompetence.

Conclusion (interim) here is one item revealed by our study to date:  

This is what we are all doing; raising ourselves up to our highest level of incompetence, give or take a few saints here and there, as far as being best possible humans, building the best possible society directly with one another goes.

Example: We can put a man on the moon and still not sustain harmony in many of our homes and schools.

Are you surprised? I hope not. It’s a complicated issue; this raising up to one’s highest level of incompetence, what falls out as consequences, and, the discovery of new ways (i.e. elegant solutions) to do better. It all takes time. Compassion and patience with ourselves and one another is strongly urged.

The subject of the "Peter Principle" in motion, hereby introduced, as discovered through our Possible Human, Possible Society, is an intricate weave of elements.  Thus, it behooves me to acknowledge that, for me, to lay out one simple piece, here, is to, perhaps, reach my own highest level of competence. I am about to go over the top of the ladder to the next rung of my human evolution; reaching my own incompetence.

As our study progresses with its intended objectives, please do check out the premises of the Peter Principle (see Wikipedia) for a prelude to what our Possible Human, Possible Society Study is revealing. And, do, please, try to humble yourself in the process, should any remnants of arrogance still have a hold on you, following, of course, the role modeling of our esteemed president, Barack Obama.

And, please do come back for more.

Over time, I/we will do my/our best to share what we are learning on how each and every one of us may be, at this very moment, in the process of living out our dreams while, concurrently, sabotaging them (including what we contribute to our success as a nation).

Nonetheless, we will continue to strive to inform, along with persistent hints, as already introduced, on how we can all do a whole lot better.

Trust me, if you dare, we can all be doing better than we are!

So, I ask you, why all the excessive focus and blame on our leaders?

Are you, honestly, on every front of your life so much more perfect?

I ask you, now, to take a close look.

Or, perhaps, for him/them it is simply karma (good or bad) to have been given the assignment to be … President of the U.S.A. or the head of the CIA and have your poo regularly be under the microscope, for better or worse.

There by the grace of God goes each and every one of us at our highest level of incompetence. How truly beautiful are we, as humans!

More to come.