Monday, April 21, 2008

Marx and Michael Scott


Check out "Gaper's Block's" musings on "The Office". I always love Michael's philosophy about business. Remember when he goes to Ryan's business school and is frustrated by all the questions about Dunder Mifflin's business model:

"You know what? Dunder-Mifflin is here to stay... David will always beat Goliath."

"But there's five Goliaths — Staples, Office Max—"

"Yeah, yeah. You know what else is facing five Goliaths? America. Al-Qaeda. Global Warming. Uh, sex predators... mercury poisoning... so what, do we just give up? Is that what we're learning in business school?"

"But in the big picture—"

"Dunder-Mifflin is the big picture; can't you understand that? No, you can't. Because you're too young. And Ryan has never made a sale."

Later in the episode, when Ryan thinks he is being fired, Michael reassures him: "A good manager doesn't fire people. He hires people and inspires people. You don't get it — people will never 'go out of business.'"

I love that last quote. (See my True Value entry).

To read the whole article, click on my entry title.