The Peter Principle is the natural consequence of the idea that people are only as valuable as the work that they do. Want to reward someone for being an exceptional ditch digger? You can only reward a ditch digger so much, before the only way you can reward them further is by making them something else.
Although fascinatingly, I used to run into the opposite problem. I was so good at what I did (tech support) that I couldn't be promoted out of it, because I was far too valuable in the position I had. I was basically told that verbatim one time in a performance review. Which depressed the living hell out of me, because all I wanted was out.
The only way I got out was when my position went away entirely, and they figured "oh what the hell, let's see how he can do at this other job that he's never done. Besides, we can call it a lateral transfer and not raise his pay." And then I proceeded to manage the fuck out of some projects and they're all like "Not bad, you can stay."
I can haz pay raise commensurate with my position?
lolnope, u get 50 cent raise
RAEGFACE
Also, the whole thing about "Somebody made a mistake. This must never occur again, so from now on all
X must be reviewed and approved first" is a common problem in business, and one of the leading causes of inefficiency in my opinion. It generates extra work (submitting X for review, and then having to review X) which isn't generating extra revenue, slows things down, and generally is a pain in the ass to everyone involved. It also turns the reviewers into gatekeepers, which the more megalomaniacal of them will rule like tiny fiefdoms. And if you have a truly incompetent reviewer, the results can be mind-boggling.
When I was with BATF, all new software requests had to be approved by a reviewer. This lady was not technical, didn't give two shits about anything, and had enough tenure that firing her would have taken an act of Congress. Requests would sit in her queue for months without her even looking at them. At some point, I found out that she reviewed the requests, not chronologically as any sane person would, but
alphabetically by the name of the software package. So Adobe Acrobat requests tended to get through in a few days, but software towards the end of the alphabet was likely to NEVER get approved. At one point, we had a change in our desk manager, and since the request tickets were entered by the HelpDesk (on behalf of the agents who called in), she told us to delete all requests because they were no longer valid. I protested to my manager that this made absolutely no logical sense and was going to cause a HUGE problem. He agreed but said "Whaddya gonna do? Just document it and comply." So I took screenshots of all the requests (~200 or so), and her emails with the request to delete and the insane justification thereof.
Sure enough, a regional SAC (Special Agent in Charge) called in for an update on a crucial piece of ballistics software and was told the request had been deleted. Then HE went ballistic. Whole thing blew up, this bitch tried to throw us under the bus (as I knew she would), and I produced all the screenshots and emails indicating what had actually happened. I felt triumphant.....then a few months later, I learned that NOTHING came of it. She wasn't fired, she wasn't demoted, her gatekeeper role wasn't taken away, just business as usual. And that's when I decided fuck civil service.
(Sorry, that was all kind of a tangent from the topic of meetings, but sorta on-topic of business practices that drive sane people insane)