Ben Compton asks, after reading the Dilbert Principle...
> Am I missing the boat on this one? Do others face this same problem? Is
> Scott Adams really bringing about constructive change, or is he simply
> making a whole lot of money by mocking managers without accepting (or
> recognizing) that he is also causing serious problems within many
> organizations?
Ben, I'm also a big fan of Dilbert, I also bought and read The Dilbert
Principle, and I laughed more reading the book than I usually do when
reading the strips.
Scott Adams is, IMHO, like many artists (e.g. in humor or in some of the
Rock music) talking about problems people face in their life. I do agree
he does not propose solutions or constructive change. But very often, he
makes me think about my own behavior. Most of the stuff Adams writes comes
from examples of real bosses in real life brought to him through e-mail by
real people (although I would tend to believe many stories he gets are
exagerations or pure imagination). These bosses are in general like anyone
else, doing what they believe is right, but most of the time not carefully
thinking about consequences. In that sense, we could see Adams as someone
who keeps managers on their toes. Nobody would like to "act Dilbert-like".
Another angle to look at this: espoused theory vs. theory-in-use. The
toughest challenge in there is probably accurately assessing current
situation. Dilbert cartoons could become a tool to help recognize better
what current reality is like. You probably did, just like me, recognized
example of stories in your own company. Adams is then not the person to
give a solution...
You also ask about organizations. When I read the book, the last chapter
seemed to me like it was a lot different from the rest. I saw it as a much
more serious attempt at suggesting a way for organizations to perform
better by letting their employees do their work without too many
interruptions and by making sure work does not overwhelm their life. We
might or might not agree with Adams' position in that chapter, but it
seems to me as a very defendable point...
Regards,
Christian
--Christian Giroux <lmccgir@lmc.ericsson.se> System Support Manager, Technical Assistance Center Ericsson Research Inc. Montreal
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>