Dilbert
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Dilbert (first published April 16, 1989) is a popular American comic strip. Written and drawn by Scott Adams, the comic is known for its satirical humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office, featuring the engineer Dilbert as the title character. The strip has spawned several books, an animated television series, a computer game, and hundreds of Dilbert-themed merchandise items. Adams has also received the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award and Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 1997 for his work on the strip. Dilbert appears in 2500 newspapers worldwide in 65 countries and 19 languages with over 150 million fans.
Themes
The comic strip originally revolved around the engineer Dilbert and his "pet" dog Dogbert, with most action taking place in their home. Many plots revolved around Dilbert's engineer nature or his bizarre inventions. These alternate with plots based on Dogbert's megalomaniacal ambitions. Later on, the location of most of the action moved to Dilbert's workplace at a large technology company, and the strip started to satirize IT workplace and company issues. The comic strip's popular success is attributable to its workplace setting and themes, which are familiar to a large and appreciative audience.
Dilbert portrays corporate culture as a Kafkaesque world of bureaucracy for its own sake and office politics that stand in the way of productivity, where employees' skills and efforts are not rewarded, and busy work praised. Much of the humor emerges as the audience sees the characters making obviously ridiculous decisions that are natural reactions to mismanagement.
Themes explored include:
- Engineers' personal traits
- Lack of style
- Hopelessness in dating
- Attraction to tools and technological products
- Esotericism
- Incompetent and sadistic management
- Scheduling without reference to reality
- Failure to reward success or penalize laziness
- Penalizing employees for failures caused by bad management
- Micromanagement
- Failure to improve others' morale, lowering it instead
- Failure to communicate objectives
- Handling of projects doomed to failure or cancellation
- Sadistic HR policies with flimsy (or purely evil) rationale
- Corporate bureaucracy
- ISO Audits
- Budgeting, accounting, Payroll and Financial Advisors
- Stupidity of the general public
- Susceptibility to advertising
- Susceptibility to peer pressure
- Susceptibility to flattery
- Gullibility in the face of obvious scams
- Third world countries and outsourcing (Elbonia)
- Dilapidation
- Bizarre cultural habits
- Lack of understanding of capitalism
Characters
The main characters in Dilbert include:
- Dilbert
- The main character in the strip, Dilbert is a stereotypical technically-minded single male. He is usually pictured wearing a white dress shirt, red-and-black striped tie (which inexplicably curves upward), and black pants. In old Dilbert strips, his neck was long shaped. But in recent strips, his neck is smaller. Dilbert received his Masters degree in electrical engineering from MIT; he understands engineering well and has good ideas, but has a poor social life. Neither attractive nor blessed with tremendous social graces, Dilbert is capable but ignored at work, and struggles with his romantic life. While he is frequently seen having dates with eligible women, the dates almost invariably end in disaster, usually in surreal and bizarre ways. Dilbert loves computers and technology and will spend much of his free time playing with such things. Two comic strips show the tie pointed downward, as one would expect from a normal one. Regarding the tie as a phallic symbol, the reason would be that Dilbert has had sex the night before.
- Dogbert
- Dilbert's pet dog. Dogbert is a megalomaniac intellectual, planning to one day conquer the world and enslave all humans. He once succeeded, but got bored and quit. Often seen in high ranking consultant jobs, he constantly abuses his power and fools the management of Dilbert's company. Dogbert also enjoys pulling scams on unsuspecting, and usually dull customers to steal their money. However, despite Dogbert's cynical exterior, he has been known to pull his master out of some tight jams. Dogbert's nature as a pet was more emphasized during the earlier years of the strip; as the strip progressed, references to his acting like a dog became less common.
- Ratbert
- A rat formerly used as a laboratory test animal. A cheerful pollyanna character. He usually gets all the lowest and most menial jobs (e.g. temp.). Ratbert is tolerated, but never liked, by Dilbert.
- Catbert
- The company's evil feline Human Resources director. He derives sadistic pleasure from seeing employees worry about their jobs. Merely mentioning the term "layoffs" causes him to purr with delight.
- Bob the dinosaur
- A dinosaur who is the wedgie enforcer at the office. He was found after Dilbert realized that dinosaurs weren't extinct, they were just really good at hiding. He hides behind the couch.
- Pointy-Haired Boss
- The manager of Dilbert and the other engineers; his real name is never mentioned. In earlier strips the Boss was depicted as a stereotypical late-middle-aged balding middle manager; it was not until later that he developed his signature "pointy hair". He is hopelessly incompetent at management and does not understand the technical issue but always tries to disguise this, usually by using buzzwords he does not understand. The Boss treats his employees alternately with disdain or neglect; he is almost wholly sociopathic, using them to his own ends irrespective of the consequences to them. The Boss's level of intelligence varies from near-vegetative to perceptive and clever, depending on the strip's comic needs; his utter lack of ethics, however, is perfectly consistent.
- Wally
- One of the oldest engineers. He hates work and avoids it whenever he can. He is often seen carrying a cup of coffee. Wally is even more socially inept than Dilbert, and references to his lack of personal hygiene are not uncommon. Like the Pointy-Haired Boss, Wally is utterly lacking in ethics and will take advantage of any situation to maximize his personal gain while doing the least possible amount of honest work. Squat and balding, Wally is almost invariably portrayed wearing a short sleeved dress shirt and tie. Adams has stated that Wally was based on a man who was interested in a generous employee buy-out program -- for the company's worst employees. This had the effect of causing the man to work hard at being incompetent, rude and generally poor at his job to qualify for the buy-out program. Adams has said that this inspired the basic laziness and amorality of Wally's character.
- Alice
- One of the more competent engineers. Alice has a huge, triangular hairstyle. She is often frustrated at her work not getting proper recognition, which she believes (with some justification) is due to her gender. She also has a short, often violent temper, sometimes putting her "Fist of Death" to use, even against the Pointy Haired Boss. Alice originally depicted a series of female characters, like Ted the Generic guy, and appeared for a time as the current Alice with a somewhat more normal hair style before, like the Boss, she finally developed her signature triangular hair. Alice is claimed to be based upon a woman that Scott Adams worked with named Anita, who is described as sharing Alice's "pink suit, fluffy hair, and take-no-crap attitude."
- Asok
- Pronounced "Ah-shok." A young intern. He works very hard but does not always get proper recognition. Asok is intensely intelligent but naive about corporate life; the shattering of his illusions are frequent comic fodder. Asok is Indian, and has graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). He does not eat, at least, beef. The others, especially the Boss, often unwittingly trample on his cultural beliefs. If Asok mentions this, he is normally ignored. If Asok's reported test scores (a perfect 1600 on the old SAT) and college accomplishments are correct, he is the smartest member of the engineering team.
- Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light
- A minor demon who punishes people for small crimes by "darning them to heck" with his "pitchspoon", a parody of Satan. Ostensibly, Phil is eventually revealed to be the Pointy-Haired Boss's brother. Adams is inconsistent with his depictions of Phil; he sometimes has horns and sometimes does not, and sometimes carries a pitchfork rather than a spoon. Adams has stated that the inconsistency is because he sometimes forgets that Phil is not supposed to have a cape, or a pitchfork.
- Elbonians
- People from a fictional Fourth World nation, used as a parody of outsourcing. Their culture is radically different from western culture, and their patriarchy often annoys Alice. Their country is covered in waist-deep mud which they keep wet using expensive bottled water as revealed in one strip.
Dilbert in popular culture
The popularity of the comic strip within the corporate sector has led to the character of Dilbert being used in many business magazines and publications (he has made several appearances on the cover of Fortune).
The Toronto Star, Montreal's La Presse, the Indianapolis Star, the Providence Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Brisbane Courier Mail, the Windsor Star, and San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications, run the comic in the business section, separate from other comics, which together have their own section. This is done in much the same manner that Doonesbury is now often carried only in the editorial section due to its pointed commentary.
It is the basis of a popular (though unproven) theory suggesting that the morale at a given workplace is inversely proportional to the number of Dilbert comic strips taped and posted at various desks and cubicles. A larger number of Dilbert comic strips reflects general frustration with the bureaucratic administration at the company, whereas a generally satisfied workforce sees less identification with the character of Dilbert, and consequently fewer Dilbert comic strips are displayed as mementoes. An office with no Dilbert strips, however, does not necessarily have high morale; rather, it may indicate that a truly authoritarian administration has prohibited employees from displaying them.
Criticism
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Norman Solomon believes the strip is insufficiently critical of CEOs and disrespectful of ordinary working people (The Trouble with Dilbert: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh, Common Courage Press, 1997). The idea that white collar people might be in need of more respect contrasts with a common belief that white collar career is a free choice, but downsizing and some of the pressures on Dilbert have been predicted in the 1970s by Harry Braverman (Labor and Monopoly Capital, Monthly Review Press, 1998 being the most recent re-issue). Dealing with those pressures would require Dilbert to be more blue-collar in terms of strife over his work process, but in Dilbert the boss can be lampooned but has to be obeyed.
David F. Noble (Forces of Production, Oxford 1986) narrated the 1950's cyberstruggle over control of the programming of then-new computerized machine tools with a clear beginning (management introduces tools programmed by back-office Dilberts ignorant of shop floor requirements), middle (union men stand and watch the improperly programmed tools create "scrap at high speed") and end (management agrees that the union guys should do the programming).
Peter Drucker and C. Wright Mills both pointed out the paradox on which the strip is based but does not address: Dilbert, Wally, Alice and the rest of the gang are at one and the same time supposed to compete with each other, and produce a collective product. The strip satirizes the victims of this double bind. Solomon's concern is that it reconciles people to their fate, and doesn't show them a way out.
Language
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Terms invented by Adams in relation to the strip, and sometimes used by fans in describing their own office environments, include "Induhvidual". This term is based on an American English slang expression "duh!". The conscious misspelling of individual as induhvidual is a pejorative term for people who are not in the DNRC (Dogbert's New Ruling Class). Its coining is explained in Dilbert Newsletter #6.
The strip has also popularized the usage of the terms "cow-orker" and PHB. The word "frooglepoopillion" is now occasionally used to describe an extremely large number, after a strip which revealed that the company for which Dilbert worked owed so much money that no name existed to describe the number, so the marketing department was promptly set to work on it, coining "frooglepoopillion".
Some fans have used "Dilbertian" or "Dilbertesque" to analogize situations in real life to those in the comic strip.
Management
In 1997 Scott Adams masqueraded as a management consultant to Logitech executives (as Ray Mebert), with the cooperation of the company's vice-chairman. He acted in much the way he portrays management consultants in the comic strip, with an arrogant manner and bizarre suggestions, such as comparing mission statements to broccoli soup. He convinced the executives to replace their existing mission statement for their New Ventures Group, "to provide Logitech with profitable growth and related new business areas", with "to scout profitable growth opportunities in relationships, both internally and externally, in emerging, mission inclusive markets, and explore new paradigms and then filter and communicate and evangelize the findings".
In order to demonstrate what can be achieved with the most mundane objects if planned correctly and imaginatively, Adams has worked with companies to develop "dream" products for Dilbert and company. In 2001 he collaborated with IDEO, a design company, to come up with the "perfect cubicle", a fitting creation since many of the Dilbert strips make fun of the standard cubicle desk and the environment it creates. The result was both whimsical and practical.
This project was followed in 2004 with designs for Dilbert's Ultimate House (abbreviated as DUH). An energy-efficient building resulted, designed to prevent many of the little niggles which seem to creep into a normal building. For instance, to spare time from having to buy and decorate a Christmas tree every year, the house has a large yet inapparent closet adjacent to the living room where the tree can be stored for later holiday seasons.
Awards
In addition to the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards won by Adams, the Dilbert strip has received a variety of other awards. Adams was named best international comic strip artist of 1995 in the Adamson Awards given by the Swedish Academy of Comic Art.
Dilbert was named the best syndicated strip of 1997 in the Harvey Awards and won the Max & Moritz Prize as best international comic strip for 1998. In the Squiddy Awards, Dilbert was named the best daily strip of 1996 and 1997, and the best comic strip of 1998 and 2000. The strip also won the Zombie Award as the best comics strip of 1996 and 1997, and the 1997 Good Taste Award as the best strip of 1996.
Media
Comic strip compilations
Books in bold indicate special compilations or original strips.
- Build a Better Life By Stealing Office Supplies
- Always Postpone Meetings with Time-Wasting Morons — 16 April 1989 (first strip) to 21 October 1989
- Dogbert's Clues for the Clueless
- Shave the Whales — 22 October 1989 to 4 August 1990
- Bring Me the Head of Willy the Mailboy! — 5 October 1990 to 18 May 1991
- It's Obvious You Won't Survive By Your Wits Alone — 19 May 1991 to 13 December 1992
- Still Pumped from Using the Mouse — 14 December 1992 to 27 September 1993
- Fugitive From the Cubicle Police — 28 September 1993 to 11 February 1995
- Casual Day Has Gone Too Far — 5 February 1995 to 19 November 1995
- Seven Years of Highly Defective People — 1997; strips from 1989 to 1995, with handwritten notes by Scott Adams
- I'm Not Anti-Business, I'm Anti-Idiot — 20 November 1995 to 31 August 1996
- Journey to Cubeville — 1 September 1996 to 18 January 1998
- Don't Step in the Leadership — 12 January 1998 to 18 October 1998
- Dilbert Gives You the Business - Collection of favorites before 1999.
- Random Acts of Management — 19 October 1998 to 25 July 1999
- A Treasury of Sunday Strips: Version 00 — 1999; color version of all Sunday strips from 1995 to 1999
- Excuse Me While I Wag — 26 July 1999 to 30 April 2000
- When Did Ignorance Become A Point Of View? — 1 May 2000 to 4 February 2001
- Another Day In Cubicle Paradise — 5 February 2001 to 11 November 2001
- What Do You Call A Sociopath In A Cubicle? Answer: A Coworker
- When Body Language Goes Bad — 12 November 2001 to 18 August 2002
- Words You Don't Want to Hear During Your Annual Performance Review — 19 August 2002 to 25 May 2003
- Don't Stand Where the Comet is Assumed to Strike Oil — 26 May 2003 to 29 February 2004
- It's Not Funny If I Have To Explain It — 2004; strips from 1997 to 2004, with more of Adams' handwritten notes
- The Fluorescent Light Glistens Off Your Head — 1 March 2004 to 5 December 2004
- Thriving on Vague Objectives — 6 December 2004 to 10 September 2005
Business books
- The Dilbert Principle
- Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook
- The Dilbert Future
- The Joy of Work
- Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel
Other
- Telling It Like It Isn't — 1996; ISBN 0-8362-1324-6
- Work is a Contact Sport — 1997; ISBN 0-8362-2878-2
- Random Acts of Catness — 1998; ISBN 0-8362-5277-2
- Work—The Wally Way — 1999; ISBN 0-8362-7480-6
- Alice in Blunderland — 1999; ISBN 0-8362-7479-2
- The Boss: Nameless, Blameless and Shameless
- You Don't Need Experience If You've Got Attitude
- Access Denied : Dilbert's Quest for Love in the Nineties
- Conversations With Dogbert
- The Dilbert Bunch
- No You'd Better Watch Out
- Dilbert Meeting Book Exceeding Tech Limits
Merchandise
- Corporate Shuffle by Richard Garfield — 1997; A Dilbert-branded card game similar to Wizard of the Coast's The Great Dalmuti and the drinking game President
- The Dilberito, a burrito with 100% Daily Value of 23 vitamins and minerals
Animated series
An animated series spinoff was started on January 25, 1999; it lasted two seasons on UPN before its cancellation. The first season centered around the creation of a new product, the "Gruntmaster 6000": episodes one through three involved the idea process, (The Name, The Prototype, and The Competiton respectively); the fourth (Testing) involved having it survive a malevolent company tester named "Bob Bastard", and the fifth (Elbonian Trip) was about production in the famine-stricken fourth-world country of Elbonia. The product was finally tested by an incredibly stupid family in Squiddler's Patch, Texas, in the thirteenth and final episode of the season, Infomercial, even though it had not been tested in a lab beforehand.
The second season featured seventeen episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to thirty. Unlike the first season, the episodes were not part of a larger story arc and had a different storyline for each of the episodes (with the exception of episodes 29 and 30, Pregnancy and The Delivery). Elbonia was revisited once more in Hunger, Dogbert still managed to scam people in Art, Dilbert was accused of mass murder in The Trial, and Wally gets his own disciples in episode 16, The Shroud of Wally.
The entire run of the Dilbert animated series was made available on DVD on January 27, 2004. The DVD box set retailed at US$49.95 and included some special features including trailers and clip compilations with commentary by Scott Adams, executive producer Larry Charles, and voice actors Chris Elliot, Larry Miller, Kathy Griffin, and Gordon Hunt.
The theme music, The Dilbert Zone, was written by Danny Elfman, and is a slight rewrite from the theme of The Forbidden Zone.
Voice actors
- Daniel Stern as Dilbert
- Kathy Griffin as Alice
- Gordon Hunt as Wally
- Chris Elliot as Dogbert
- Larry Miller as the Pointy-Haired Boss
- Tom Kenny as Ratbert and Asok
- Jason Alexander as Catbert
- Tress MacNeille as Carol
- Jim Wise as Loud Howard
- Buck Henry as Dilbert's Dad
See also
- The Dilbert Principle
- Peter Principle, the opposite of the Dilbert Principle
- Plop: The Hairless Elbonian, a Dilbert spin-off strip
- Microserfs, a book about Microsoft employees
References
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External links
Official sites
- Official Dilbert website
- The Dilbert Blog
- Website for Dilbert's Desktop Games, by DreamWorks Interactive
- Dilbert's Ultimate House (DUH)
