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I see the Peter principle is fully operative in our workplace. This is why it’s so hard to stay motivated these days: because all around me, everyone has been promoted to the maximum state of incompetence. People don’t seem to have the most basic skillset anymore.

Here I am trying to train a colleague, new in post, not even capable of the simplest computing tasks. So naturally, in the end, I just say, “You know what, just leave it with me; I’ll do it for you.”

Perhaps that was the point. Perhaps that what he was angling for in the first place. Perhaps I’m just a gullible fool, all too ready to make up for the shortcomings of others, employed to a role they can’t actually do.

Yes, it’s hard staying motivated at work these days. All the promotions seem to go to those who can blag. It seems there are no aptitude tests at interview anymore, capable of determining if candidates actually have the requisite skillset for their role. No, we just go ahead and employ them, learning the hard way that they can’t actually do their job.

Actually, we don’t learn anything at all; there’s just an expectation that that nice chap will fix everything. But good luck with that, because the nice chap is burnt out. He’s had enough. He’d demotivated and bored, and no longer enjoys his job. He’s thinking, “Maybe I’ll join the incompetents and seek that promotion I’m not qualified for.”

But of course he won’t because he still has ethical scruples. He will just remain in place, helping hand to the incompetents all around him. Welcome to the world of work.