History Main / TheDilbertPrinciple

--> --'''PointyHairedBoss''', Dilbert

** The animated show had an episode where Dilbert was briefly promoted. This trope is so ingrained in the company culture that it took a while to convince him he wasn't being punished for something.

* In ''Series/TheWire'', with the exception of Daniels, most of the higher ups in the BPD are relatively undeserving of their jobs. They don't actually want to do any real police work, unless they absolutely have to, and if they had to do it themselves they probably couldn't. They are, instead, interested only in the numbers, completely (and willingly) oblivious to the real lives behind, say, the number of murders, or the larger picture of which the murders are a result.

* Invoked and lampshaded at various points in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' when referring to Mr. Kornada. Almost everyone who knows him knows just how horribly dumb and incompetent he is to the point that he was promoted to Vice President in charge of paperclip allocation at Ecosystems Unlimited so that there was no way he could do any damage to the terraforming project, [[spoiler:it didn't work.]]

[[AC:Comic Strips]]

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

[[AC: Tabletop Games]]

[[AC:Web Comics]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

** The animated show had an episode where Dilbert was briefly promoted. This trope is so ingrained in the company culture that it took awhile to convince him he wasn't being punished for something.

* The senior managers seen occassionally in ''Series/TheOffice'' tick all the boxes, superficially, for competence, ability and efficiency and certainly present the image; but they are utterly unable to perceive that [[PointyHairedBoss David Brent]] is not only horrifyingly inept, that his presence is a major drain on the company's profitability and a cancer on staff morale, and even praise him and want to ''promote'' him. The implication is that these are slightly more functioning David Brents who have managed to thrive and survive in the system and ascend to the next level - who are recognising one of their own who just requires more nurturing. the American version of the series takes this UptoEleven with their introduction of Creator/CatherineTate's character who projects the right image but who is horribly incompetent at all the things that really matter. or, from the point of view of the Dilbert principle, all the things that ''don't'' matter and which are irrelevant to ensuring her own survival.

* The flavor text to the ''Management Shake-Up'' card in TabletopGames/Netrunner reads "Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted."

* Happens in ''Film/OfficeSpace'', where the two consultants make plans to fire the protagonist's two highly skilled friends but consider the protagonist himself to be management material, based on his hypnosis-induced attitude of not giving a shit and just flat out telling them his bosses suck and he barely does any work. He also identifies a long list of inefficiencies within corporate processes and explains how the work environment naturally leads to {{dismotivation}}.

* Happens in ''Film/OfficeSpace'', where the two consultants make plans to fire the protagonist's two highly skilled friends but consider the protagonist himself to be management material, based on his hypnosis-induced attitude of not giving a shit and just flat out telling them his bosses suck and he barely does any work. Partly justified by the fact that he also identifies a long list of inefficiencies within corporate processes and explains how the work environment naturally leads to {{dismotivation}}.

* In ''Series/TheWire'', with the exception of Daniels, most of the higher ups in the BPD are relatively undeserving of their jobs. They don't actually want to do any real police work, unless they absolutely have to, and if they had to do it themselves they probably couldn't.

The Dilbert Principle is a counterargument to ThePeterPrinciple. It states that, generally speaking, incompetent workers will be promoted above competent workers to managerial positions, thus removing them from the actual work and minimizing the damage they can do. In other words, the persons who least deserve promotion (or most deserve to be fired) will be promoted instead of the competent. Reasons for this range from good, old-fashioned [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections cronyism]] to... well, [[ProfessionalButtKisser cronyism]] -- though it's not uncommon for individuals to rise within a [[VastBureaucracy bureaucracy]] on the basis of superficial traits that have nothing to do with their effectiveness on the job ([[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful good looks]], [[LargeAndInCharge impressive height]], etc.) In any case, the human roadblocks are thus removed, leaving the employees who actually ''can'' work to get on with it.

* When Homer's new hair gets him a promotion in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', he suggests having the cafeteria give out more tartar sauce. This has the intended effect of improving moral and thus increasing productivity and decreasing accidents. However, it is noted by Smithers that the accident reduction is equal to that caused by Homer, and the production is the same as when Homer last took a vacation.

* George Costanza in ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' seems to employ this trope. During his tenure at the Yankees, he manages to do almost no work at all, even summarizing the work that he ''does'' do to Jerry as, "They had a concession stand like you wouldn't believe". Despite this, George is promoted twice before being "traded" to Tyler Chicken for a fermented chicken drink and other chicken products. He lands a second job doing essentially the same amount of work (i.e. none), scamming his boss by pretending to be handicapped, and then later refusing to quit when he realizes he can't be legally fired, as he never actually ''said'' he was crippled. He only lost his job when the company tanked financially.

The Dilbert Principle is a counterargument to ThePeterPrinciple. It states that, generally speaking, incompetent workers will be promoted above competent workers to managerial positions, thus removing them from the actual work and minimizing the damage they can do. In other words, the persons who least deserve promotion (or most deserve to be fired) will be promoted instead of the competent. Reasons for this range from good, old-fashioned [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections cronyism]] to... well, [[ProfessionalButtKisser cronyism]] -- though it's not uncommon for individuals to rise within a [[VastBureaucracy bureaucracy]] on the basis of superficial traits that have nothing to do with their effectiveness on the job (([[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful good looks]], [[LargeAndInCharge impressive height]]), etc.) In any case, the human roadblocks are thus removed, leaving the employees who actually ''can'' work to get on with it.

The Dilbert Principle works as a counterpoint to ThePeterPrinciple. Basically, it states that, generally speaking, incompetent workers will be promoted above competent workers to managerial positions where they thus don't have to do any real work and the damage they do can be limited. Or, in other words, people who least deserve to be promoted (or most deserve to be fired) will be promoted in place of those who most deserve promotion. Reasons for this range from good, old-fashioned [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections cronyism]] to... well, [[ProfessionalButtKisser cronyism]]-- though it's not uncommon for individuals to rise within a [[VastBureaucracy bureaucracy]] on the basis of their superficial traits ([[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful good looks]], [[LargeAndInCharge impressive height]]), rather than merit.

->''I need to promote one of you to the district manager position. Dilbert, your technical knowledge is too valuable to lose. Ditto for Alice. Neither of you can be promoted. The only logical choice is to promote Al because he has no valuable knowledge.''
--> --'''PointyHairedBoss''', Dilbert

The Dilbert Principle works as a counterpoint to ThePeterPrinciple. Basically, it states that, generally speaking, incompetent workers will be promoted above competent workers to managerial positions where they thus don't have to do any real work and the damage they do can be limited. Or, in other words, people who least deserve to be promoted (or most deserve to be fired) will be promoted in place of those who most deserve promotion. Reasons for this range from good, old-fashioned [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections cronyism]] to... well, [[ProfessionalButtKisser cronyism]]-- though it's not uncommon for individuals to rise within a [[VastBureaucracy bureaucracy]] on the basis of their superficial traits ([[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful good looks]], [[LargeAndInCharge impressive height]]), rather than merit.

The principle is named for the comic-strip Dilbert and was named by Dilbert creator Scott Adams who identified this trend as common in businesses. He wrote a book describing the principle in detail.

Compare KickedUpstairs.

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!!Examples of this Trope include:

[[AC:Comic Strips]]
* Scott Adams, the author of the comic ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', wrote an entire book dedicated to how promotion has changed from the Peter Principle to his [[{{TropeNamer}} coinage]]. Thus the PointyHairedBoss and the Marketing Department as shown in the strip.

[[AC:Film]]
* In ''Film/{{Ted}}'', the title character Ted has this happen twice to him. Whenever he's caught doing something that should get him fired, he is instead promoted. Both times, his reaction is [[LampshadeHanging something along the lines of]] [[YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe "Are you fucking kidding me?!?"]] It's also a case of SpringtimeForHitler as he is deliberately trying to get fired from his job by either openly insulting his boss or having sex with an employee during work.
* Happens in ''Film/OfficeSpace'', where the two consultants make plans to fire the protagonist's two highly skilled friends but consider the protagonist himself to be management material, based on his hypnosis-induced attitude of not giving a shit and just flat out telling them his bosses suck and he barely does any work. Partly justified by the fact that he also identifies a long list of inefficiencies within corporate processes and explains how the work environment naturally leads to {{dismotivation}}.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* George Costanza in ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' seems to employ this trope. During his tenure at the Yankees, he manages to do almost no work at all, even summarizing the work that he ''does'' do to Jerry as, "They had a concession stand like you wouldn't believe". Despite this, George is promoted twice before being "traded" to Tyler Chicken for a fermented chicken drink and other chicken products. He lands a second job doing essentially the same amount of work (i.e. none), scamming his boss by pretending to be handicapped, and then later refusing to quit when he realizes he can't be legally fired, as he never actually ''said'' he was crippled. He only lost his job when the company tanked financially.
* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'':
** Roger Gaffney gets promoted to Captain ahead of the far more deserving Al Giardello, despite being almost completely incompetent as a police detective and completely hated by most of, if not all, his fellow officers for displaying racist and sexist attitudes in a unit with plenty of black and female officers.
** Prior to that, Megan Russert is promoted to Captain ahead of Giardello. While Russert is certainly a more than competent Lieutenant, she is promoted purely because she is a woman, over Giardello who has put in years of service.
* In ''Series/TheWire'', with the exception of Daniels, most of the higher ups in the BPD are relatively undeserving of their jobs. They don't actually want to do any real police work, unless they absolutely have to, and if they had to do it themselves they probably couldn't.

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* When Homer's new hair gets him a promotion in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', he suggests having the cafeteria give out more tartar sauce. This has the intended effect of improving moral and thus increasing productivity and decreasing accidents. However, it is noted by Smithers that the accident reduction is equal to that caused by Homer, and the production is the same as when Homer last took a vacation.
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* George Costanza in ''{{Seinfeld}}'' seems to employ this trope. During his tenure at the Yankees, he manages to do almost no work at all, even summarizing the work that he ''does'' do to Jerry as, "They had a concession stand like you wouldn't believe". Despite this, George is promoted twice before being "traded" to Tyler Chicken for a fermented chicken drink and other chicken products. He lands a second job doing essentially the same amount of work (i.e. none), scamming his boss by pretending to be handicapped, and then later refusing to quit when he realizes he can't be legally fired, as he never actually ''said'' he was crippled. He only lost his job when the company tanked financially.
* Happens in ''OfficeSpace'', where the two consultants make plans to fire the protagonist's two highly skilled friends but consider the protagonist himself to be management material, based on his hypnosis-induced attitude of not giving a shit and just flat out telling them his bosses suck and he barely does any work.
** Partly justified by the fact that he also identifies a long list of inefficiencies within corporate processes and explains how the work environment naturally leads to {{dismotivation}}.
* In ''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', Roger Gaffney gets promoted to Captain ahead of the far more deserving Al Giardello, despite being almost completely incompetent as a police detective and completely hated by most of, if not all, his fellow officers for displaying racist and sexist attitudes in a unit with plenty of black and female officers.

* In ''TheWire'', with the exception of Daniels, most of the higher ups in the BPD are relatively undeserving of their jobs. They don't actually want to do any real police work, unless they absolutely have to, and if they had to do it themselves they probably couldn't.
* When Homer's new hair gets him a promotion in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', he suggests having the cafeteria give out more tartar sauce. This has the intended effect of improving moral and thus increasing productivity and decreasing accidents. However, it is noted by Smithers that the accident reduction is equal to that caused by Homer, and the production is the same as when Homer last took a vacation.

* George Costanza in {{Seinfeld}} seems to employ this trope. During his tenure at the Yankees, he manages to do almost no work at all, even summarizing the work that he ''does'' do to Jerry as, "They had a concession stand like you wouldn't believe". Despite this, George is promoted twice before being "traded" to Tyler Chicken for a fermented chicken drink and other chicken products. He lands a second job doing essentially the same amount of work (i.e. none), scamming his boss by pretending to be handicapped, and then later refusing to quit when he realizes he can't be legally fired, as he never actually ''said'' he was crippled. He only lost his job when the company tanked financially.

* George Costanza in {{Seinfeld}} seems to employ this trope. During his tenure at the Yankees, he manages to do almost no work at all, even summarizing the work that he ''does'' do to Jerry as, 'They had a concession stand like you wouldn't believe'. Despite this, George is promoted twice before being 'traded' to Tyler Chicken for a fermented chicken drink and other chicken products. He lands a second job doing essentially the same amount of work (i.e. none), scamming his boss by pretending to be handicapped, and then later refusing to quit when he realizes he can't be legally fired, as he never actually ''said'' he was crippled. He only lost his job when the company tanked financially.

* In ''TheWire'', with the exception of Daniels, most of the higher ups in the BPD are relatively undeserving of their jobs. They don't actually want to do any real police work, unless they absolutely have to, and if they had to do it themselves they probably couldn't.

The Dilbert Principle works as a counterpoint to ThePeterPrinciple. Basically, it states that, generally speaking, incompetent workers will be promoted above competent workers to managerial positions where they thus don't have to do any real work and the damage they do can be limited. Or, in other words, people who least deserve to be promoted (or most deserve to be fired) will be promoted in place of those who most deserve promotion. Reasons for this range from good, old-fashioned [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections cronyism]] to... well, [[ProfessionaButtKisser cronyism]]-- though it's not uncommon for individuals to rise within a [[VastBureaucracy bureaucracy]] on the basis of their superficial traits ([[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful good looks]], [[LargeAndInCharge impressive height]]), rather than merit.

The Dilbert Principle works as a counterpoint to ThePeterPrinciple. Basically, it states that, generally speaking, incompetent workers will be promoted above competent workers to managerial positions where they thus don't have to do any real work and the damage they do can be limited. Or, in other words, people who least deserve to be promoted (or most deserve to be fired) will be promoted in place of those who most deserve promotion. Reasons for this range from good, old-fashioned [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections cronyism]] to... well, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment cronyism]]-- though it's not uncommon for individuals to rise within a [[VastBureaucracy bureaucracy]] on the basis of their superficial traits ([[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful good looks]], [[LargeAndInCharge impressive height]]), rather than merit.