Yes man

For other uses, see Yes man (disambiguation).

Yes man is a pejorative term (borrowed from the German "Jasager"(literally Yes-sayer)) for a person who outwardly displays agreement with his superiors' opinions in order to gain power or prestige. Such behaviour is said to be common in role-oriented organizations where decision-making power or prestige is concentrated in the few.

Yes men are also popular stereotypes in depictions of corporate culture. The Dilbert comic strip, for example, regularly features such characters.

Sometimes the Yes man has been caricatured in programs and animated cartoons, such as Kappa Mikey, Class of 3000 and the Simpsons.

The video game EarthBound featured an enemy called the "Yes Man Jr.". They appeared around the Onett area, and were lackeys of the "Sharks", a gang that were causing mischief around the town at the beginning of the game.

In the dystopian novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Newspeak was created to eventually turn society into yes-men.

Yes men are commonly referred to as “Team Players” by management, however the yes man is rarely considered "One of the Guys" by coworkers. Dwight Schrute and Andy Bernard from the TV series The Office are classic examples of Yes Men.