The Office: From Running to the Digital Age
Office Wisdom: I guess the atmosphere that I’ve tried to create here is that I’m a friend first and a boss second, and probably an entertainer third. ~ Michael Scott, Branch Manager - Dunder Mifflin
In the last episode of The Office, Michael - the manager- ran over one of his employees, believed the office was cursed, and “lead” the staff on a 5K run for the rabies cure. Schrute managed to fresh freeze Angela’s cat, Sprinkles.
What have you done lately in management or what has management done to you? Are you in the driver’s seat or are you getting run over?
This week, Ryan, formerly the temp and now Michael’s boss, will arrive on the scene to bring the Scranton office into the digital age. Angela will be mourning the chilly death of Sprinkles her cat.
You might also want to catch up on Dwight Schrute’s blog: Schrute-Space. Here is a snippet from his latest post on finding a time capsule he made for himself:
This “blast from the past” has cast an interesting shadow over my week. It has provided cause for great self-reflection. In truth, however, I am proud of who I have become and regret nothing. Now I must make a time capsule for 2025 Dwight. I hope he is alive when he opens it. And married. And running a large paper company. And a beet magnate or mogul, whichever is most powerful in 2025. Additionally, I hope he has created a way to keep miniature beet sculptures hydrated over long periods of time, thus making himself very rich yet unburdened by the pressures of being overly wealthy.
If you missed the last episode you can watch it for free online at NBC’s The Office site. You can even select the scenes you want to watch or you can also watch exclusive deleted scenes from the fun run episode.
Do you believe there is anything managers can learn by watching this program or is it just the opportunity to view the funny or weird side of work and leave you feeling that maybe your office isn’t so bad after-all.
Watching The Office is like turning to look at an accident on the highway as you drive by. Charlie Chaplin once said: life is a tragedy in close up and a comedy in long shot. That’s how I feel about this show. I am glad that I am seeing it from a distance yet I seem to get pulled into the characters and office shenanigans.
David was referred to as a dunder head as a child
so he relates to Dunder Mifflin the paper company in The Office.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: management, satire, work life
5 opinions for The Office: From Running to the Digital Age
Phil Gerbyshak
Oct 1, 2007 at 6:39 pm
What can we learn from these guys? For starters, how about how NOT to lead a team?
If you remember back to the episode where Pam won an award for the brightest sneakers, that’s a great way NOT to reward your team members. Meaningless awards, meaningless feedback, and backbiting. All are great ways to alienate your team and make you stink as a manager.
On the plus side, having a good sense of humor like Steve Carill’s character can’t hurt, especially if you’re a dunder head :)
jen_chan, writer SureFireWealth.com
Oct 2, 2007 at 12:40 am
I do think there are lessons to be picked up from The Office.
Sure, some of the characters aren’t “all there” but the show does provide insights on employee-boss and employee-employee relationships. And although some of Michael’s ideas aren’t exactly award-winning, employees and employers all over the world can always find inspiration from each episode and innovate ideas on their own. It’s about knowing what lessons to pick up and what never ever to try in the office.
Phil Gerbyshak
Oct 2, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Jen - Great point. It is all about knowing what lessons you pick up and what you’ll NEVER EVER do. Thanks for weighing in!
Business & Office
Oct 9, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I thought that Slacker Manager was very interesting. I found you searching on Business & Office Tuesday Thanks for the nice post!
Ron
Oct 10, 2007 at 11:02 am
I’m just browsing around your site and saw this post. There are many, many critical business lessons that can be learned from The Office. In fact, I write about it on our MBA program blog. I committed to students and our readers that every Friday I’ll write a “lessons learned” from The Office.
I usually touch on one lesson. However, there are at least a dozen lessons that can be extracted from each episode.
It is good fun as well!
All the best!
Ron
The UB/Towson MBA