Out in the world, millions of people fill jobs for which they are ill-suited, found everywhere in both government and private enterprise. While they seem not to be held accountable for poor performance, God holds us to a much higher standard. Federal agencies engage in a "use it or lose it" spending spree, totaling $50 billion in the last weeks of the most recent budget year, instead of returning unspent funds to the general fund. Examples of mismanagement include the State Department spending $79,000 on booze for embassies, the Department of Defense spending $6,600 on fidget spinners, and the Veterans Administration spending $670,000 on sculptures for blind veterans who will never see them. The Environmental Protection Agency spent $92 million on high-end luxury furniture, including an $800 pencil holder, while the National Foundation for the Arts funded questionable projects like $55,000 for a feminist book of pornography and $10,000 for a performance called Dancing with 15-foot Fish. In private enterprise, during Jack Welch's tenure as CEO of General Electric, excessive benefits and a $417 million severance payment raise questions about his management, especially as the company now faces dire financial trouble, with its board considering dismantling and selling the pieces.

Mismanagement often manifests when individuals rise to positions beyond their competence, as illustrated by the Physical Peter Principle. This concept suggests that people in a hierarchy are promoted until they reach a level where they lack the necessary skills, becoming incompetent in their new role. For instance, a skilled mechanic may struggle as a foreman, unable to manage others or handle customer interactions effectively. Similarly, a competent teacher might falter as a principal, lacking the administrative abilities required for the higher position. In such cases, human pride often prevents individuals from admitting their limitations and returning to a role where they excelled. Additionally, mismanagement can occur when internal consistency is valued over efficient service, leading to employees who follow company rules to a fault, harming the organization despite being deemed competent by supervisors. Super-competent or super-incompetent individuals may also disrupt hierarchies, resulting in their removal through a process termed hierarchical exfoliation, further highlighting the challenges of mismanagement in organizational structures.

In the realm of management, incompetence often surfaces as a pervasive issue, mirroring the inefficiencies we encounter in everyday scenarios. Just as a manager in a restaurant or store may fail to resolve a problem due to lack of skill or a bad day, many in hierarchical structures rise to their level of incompetence, a concept known as the Physical Peter Principle. This principle highlights how individuals, competent in lower roles, are promoted until they reach a position where they lack the necessary skills, remaining stuck there without further advancement or return to a role where they excelled. Such mismanagement is evident in both corporate and governmental spheres, where poor stewards of resources squander opportunities and funds. Examples of this mismanagement are stark in government spending, where federal agencies engage in wasteful end-of-year spending sprees to avoid budget cuts, totaling billions that could address national deficits. Instances like the Department of Defense spending on trivial items or the EPA investing in luxury furniture illustrate a profound lack of stewardship. Similarly, in private enterprise, exorbitant executive perks and severance packages, as seen with past corporate leaders, reflect questionable management priorities over fiscal responsibility. This pattern of mismanagement extends to the failure of accountability, where managers, whether in government or business, are not held responsible for poor performance. The squandering of resources, whether taxpayer money on frivolous expenditures or corporate funds on excessive benefits, underscores a broader culture of inefficiency. In contrast to spiritual stewardship, where growth and accountability to God's gifts are paramount, physical mismanagement reveals a stark absence of responsibility, leaving resources wasted and potential unfulfilled.