Replying to Ben's original message, as well as several following comments
--I, too, have laughed somewhat ruefully at Dilbert. And for me, that's just the point: this kind of satire, like that of Jules Feiffer (sp?) cartoon, does its work when I realize that it's puncturing _my_ balloon, not someone in another organization far, far away.
As a manager, I'd like to think that the foibles skewered so neatly in "Dilbert" don't apply to me. But what really happens is I'm reminded that at some level or other, I share in and perpetuate just the sorts of organizational horrors that causes staff to clip and paste the strips. (and here, I disagree with Joan Pomo, who recently contended, if I read her right, that the presence of Dilbert on office walls suggests a problem-ridden organization).
I trust that with the help of humor like "Dilbert," I won't ever find myself in the position of not seeing, with another great hero, Pogo, that "we have met the enemy, and he is us."
Malcolm Burson<mooney@maine.maine.edu Community Health and Counseling Bangor, Maine
--"Malcolm Burson" <mooney@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>