Category: Random

The Peter Principle

paschmann

The Peter Principle is a management concept formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in his 1969 book “The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong.”

The principle states: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence.”

Employees who perform well in their current role get promoted
They continue getting promoted as long as they perform well
Eventually, they reach a position where they’re no longer competent
Once incompetent, they stop getting promoted (they’ve “plateaued”)
They remain in that position, performing poorly

This means that over time, every position in a hierarchy tends to be filled by someone incompetent to do that job. Peter observed: “In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties.”
And therefore: “Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.”

The key insight is that competence at one level doesn’t guarantee competence at the next level. For example: read more

LinkedIn: Audrey AK!13

paschmann

As Audrey Chanakira wraps up her AK!13 internship with our team at SAP, we want to take a moment to recognize the incredible impact she’s made.

Originally from Zimbabwe, Audrey joined us through the AFRIKA KOMMT! fellowship program and quickly became a valued member of our team. Her curiosity, professionalism, and collaborative spirit enriched our work and brought fresh perspective to everything she touched.

Audrey’s contributions have left a lasting impression, and we’re grateful for the time we had together.

Thank you, Audrey Chanakira — it’s been a pleasure working with you!

hashtag#AFRIKAKOMMT hashtag#AK13 hashtag#SAP hashtag#GlobalTalent hashtag#Zimbabwe hashtag#InternshipExperience hashtag#Teamwork hashtag#FutureReady read more

AI Data Crisis and Failed Markets

paschmann

This is a nice short paper/read on how (relatively) small the training data for AI systems are, and due to data moats and hoarding, advances in AI models may start to become limited.

When a data owner shares a piece of data, the owner loses all control over how it will be used, copied, and shared further. When the owner sells a piece of data, they don’t sell the original data — they sell a copy. When a dataset is copied, the global supply goes up, the price goes down, and every customer becomes a competitor for the future sale and use of that data.

This is a nice paper covering this topic and other elements of the AI data crisis.

read more

Be a positive thinker and believer please …

paschmann

An interesting study of older adults who have positive thinking are less prone to cognitive decline.

Repetitive negative thinking is associated with cognitive function decline in older adults: a cross-sectional study – BMC PsychiatryBackground Psychological problems such as depression and anxiety increase the risk of cognitive impairment in older adults. But mechanisms on the effect of psychological disorder on cognitive function is inconclusive. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a core symptom of a number of common psychological disorders and may be a modifiable process shared by many psychological risk factors that contribute to the development of cognitive impairment. RNT may increase the risk of cognitive impairment. However, there are fewer studies related to RNT and cognitive function, and there is a lack of epidemiological studies to explore the relationship between RNT and cognitive function. Methods A cross-sectional study of 424 older adults aged 60 years or over was performed form May to November 2023 in hospital. To investigate the RNT level by using the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ), and investigate the cognitive function level by using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA). Multivariable linear regression and subgroup analyses were used to explore the relationship between RNT and cognitive function. Results We categorized the total RNT scores into quartiles. The multivariable linear regression analysis showed that after adjusting for all covariates, the participants in the Q3 and Q4 groups exhibited lower cognition scores (Q3:β = -0.180, 95%CI -2.849~-0.860; Q4:β = -0.164, 95% -2.611~-0.666) compared to the Q1 group. The results of the subgroup analyses showed that individuals aged 60 ~ 79 years, junior high school and above are more prone to suffer from cognitive impairment with a high RNT score. Conclusion The study reveals a negative association between RNT and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. However, multi-center and a longer time span cohort studies on the relationship between RNT and cognitive function should be carried out to further explore the mechanisms involved.