Why Dilbert Will Always Remain Relevant

Since its debut in 1989 I have been a faithful and unwavering fan of the parody cartoon Dilbert. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it’s a cynical and satirical glimpse of a white-collar office with a cast of characters including lazy and problematic co-workers, a pointy haired boss without a clue and even a cat in the role of an evil human resources director.

But for a lot of us who were, and are, mired in the corporate arena, some of the strips hit far too close to home – particularly with regard to undeserved promotions and questionable upward mobility. Many of you can probably cite examples of C-suite incompetence that not only went unpunished, but often rewarded.

Case in point. A publishing company I once worked for was losing money like a leaky dinghy. Since the majority of its revenue was derived from classified and display advertising sales, upper management hired a consultant to ferret out the problem. It was discovered that the company actually counted more vice presidents in their New York office than actual salespeople.

After the problem was “solved” by basically letting go of several overpaid and useless executives, the CEO was incredibly awarded an “Excellence in Business” certificate by a local organization.

Fast forward 10 years or so later, I was unceremoniously saddled with a micromanaging superior who insisted on putting his pipsqueak hands on everything that fell under my purview including artwork and editorial submissions.

To show his compassion and understanding, when a Category 1 hurricane was encroaching upon New York in 2011, I received a text from him the night before – not wishing me or my family safety but questioning that if we lost power could we still get the daily newsletter out? That oversight lasted exactly 18 months when I had the satisfaction of personally handing him my letter of resignation. Two years later, when scores of employees had either been let go in a job purge or sought employment elsewhere due to his incompetent meddling, he was summarily canned.

End of story?

Nope.

He somehow landed an even bigger post with a large business publication.

Closer to home in the CPA profession, one firm owner whose financial metrics could be over generously described as “poor” incredibly lands speaking engagement after engagement in scores of conferences lecturing audiences on how they can increase a partner’s book of business into 7 figures while their own firm has stagnated in terms of new business development.

And I could continue ad infinitum, but I think I made the point.

Like one former colleague bemoaned when assessing a similar situation – “there oughta be a law.”