Essay #1

Katherine Cox
Professor Smith
English 1020-008
28 April 2009

Dealing With a Dud of a Boss

People that have held a job at least once in their life have most likely dealt with a boss or manager or two that they could not stand. In today’s work force, you do not usually see managers that have worked for that particular company for a long amount of time. Here lately, you will see managers that might have worked in a certain field, but not that specific company. When managers are put into a position that they are not comfortable with and not familiar with, there is a very slim chance they will do well. In his article “The Dilbert Principle,” Scott Adams addresses this issue in a satirical manner. In order for a business to run properly, it is going to have to have a manager that is fully aware of the responsibilities and duties of that particular job.
Most people in the work force now, and in the past has had a problem with their boss in particular. In “The Dilbert Principle” article, Adams addresses the issue of how the work force has drastically changed from when he started work back in 1979. When Adams was in the workforce the Peter Principle was in full swing. The Peter Principle works by “which capable workers were promoted until they reached their level of incompetence” (Adams 404). Another way to state this principle is that the employees work their way up through the company and go through all the steps below the management position before they are given a specific position. I have had a personal experience on this matter and completely agree with Adams’s theory. I used to work retail with the Target Corporation and had to deal with a manager that knew nothing about his job. The only thing that the manager was capable of doing were the small amount of things he learned in his short training period. This short training period did not give him any amount of hands on experience in retail or any experience dealing with guests (also known as customers). Seeing as this training he was given did not prepare him for the job he was about to endure, he failed miserably. I used to work Guest Service, also known as returns, and I periodically would get a difficult guest and have to get a manager. The only problem was that every time I had to ask for him he would completely contradict what I had just told the guest, because he did not know the policy completely. So in turn, every time he contradicted what I said, was another guest that got they way they wanted and it messed up the system in the computer because the manager did not know what he was doing. Once he got “dismissed” from Target, we got another manager that had worked for the corporation for a longer amount of time and worked their way up to the manager position. After they moved to my Target store, the store started doing much better in sales, returns, etc.
After having a manager that is fully aware of the duties of their job, the business will run much more efficiently. I used to work for Food City and realized how correct Adams’s theory is. I noticed that when a manager was hired from within the company itself, after moving up through every level possible, the manager ran the business much better, than the manager with no experience in the business beforehand. This manager knew what to do in every situation brought their way. They were able to fix things properly and as quickly as possible. The manager before the most recent one, had not worked for the company before and had to ask people below them in order to fix problems and issues brought their way.
Using the ideas of Adams in the article would definitely make a business run much smoother and more efficiently. By getting a manager that has worked for that particular business for a long amount of time and has worked their way up to the manager position, the business will be able to run the way it should. It also will make other employees that are below the manager’s position so much happier and more content with a manager that actually knows what he is doing. When the manager has no experience in the job itself, the atmosphere is much more negative and employees get frustrated more easily. In turn, everyone would be able to work in a nice and friendly atmosphere more often than if a manager with no experience in the specific field would be able to bring.

Work Cited

Adams, Scott. “The Dilbert Principle.” Reading Culture. Eds. Lynn M. Huddon and Katharine Glynn. New York: 2007. (403-406).