"The Office" view of promotions

If you’re of a certain age, you remember the fuss Canadian psychologist Laurence J. Peter kicked up in 1969 with the ''Peter Principle.''

Peter’s premise: people in a workplace are promoted until they reach their ''level of incompetence.'' He argued this happens because we wrongly assume that people who are good at their jobs will succeed one level higher, so we promote them. But often the new job is so different from the previous job that the employee can't handle it. The employee drags the efficiency of the firm downward. Remind you of the ''The Office?'' -- clogged with incompetence.

Italian scientists say promoting people at random, and alternately promoting the absolute best and absolute worst performers, will help avoid that trap.