History PlayingWith / PointyHairedBoss

* '''Implied''': Peter [[OneSceneWonder appears only infrequently]] and, when he does appear, is perpetually twiddling his thumbs.

** Peter was an incompetent from the start -- however, the company couldn't really get rid of him for whatever reason (maybe a complicated union situation, for example), so he was KickedUpstairs to do as little damage as possible.

** Peter is in a protected class, and while he has never actually threatened legal action, the company was successfully sued by an employee in that same class a while back and now HR won't even dare look at anyone in that class funny, no matter how much cause they have.

** There's at least one character who is TheDitz, but they aren't the boss.
* '''Enforced''': "Those wage slaves watching this will love it if the boss is terrible. That way they sympathize with the office workers on this sitcom."

** The first time Peter screws up, the employees revolt ''en masse'' and literally throw him out of the company.
* '''Discussed''': "The management staff need better training, and not just copies of ''Literature/WhoMovedMyCheese''. They need to be promoted from the floor and take a few calls themselves so they know their employees' jobs as well as their own."

* '''Deconstructed''':
** Peter's incompetence comes back to bite him when the newest IncompetenceInc product fails due to him. His entire office is shut down, costing all the employees their jobs.
* '''Reconstructed''':

* '''Played for Drama''': Many good employees are fired due to Peter's inability to lead the office, while [[KarmaHoudini he gets away scot-free]] thanks to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections his connections]].

** Peter may lack the technical skills to run the company, but he has the necessary social skills to butter people left and right. Peter then acts as TheChick who mediates conflict and keeps everyone working together, and the company runs smoothly.

* '''Defied''': "I know I'm a good salesman, but I don't think I should be leading the sales branch."

** Peter's incompetence comes back to bite him when the newest IncompetenceInc product fails due to him. His entire office is shut down, costing all the employees there their jobs.

* '''Exaggerated''': Peter isn't aware of his job responsibilities, what's going on around him, or even where he works.

* '''Deconstructed''': Peter's incompetence comes back to bite him when the newest IncompetenceInc product fails due to him. His entire office is shut down, costing all the employees there their jobs.
* '''Reconstructed''': While there are some heavy losses on his end, Peter's office weathers the storm, but his incompetence is revealed. He's demoted back to Sales, [[{{Unishment}} which is where he wanted to be in the first place]].

* '''Straight''': [[ThePeterPrinciple Peter Harrison]] is a manager at IncompetenceInc He's a total buffoon who has no idea what he's doing.

** Peter wants to do his job properly but is so heavily bound by bureaucratic red tape that he simply gave up trying to do more than the bare minimum to spare himself the frustration.

** A new hire is told there is a PointyHairedBoss in this office, but Peter proves competent in defiance of their expectations.

** Bob only scratched the surface; Peter is far less competent than even his worst enemy thought.

** The PointyHairedBoss alluded to wasn't Peter but somebody ''above'' him.

** When Peter is promoted to a supervisory position, [[ImportantHaircut he gets his hair restyled so it sticks up in one or more points above his head]].

** The office manager's position has a HighTurnoverRate that goes quickly from an adept manager to an inept one and back.
* '''Averted''': Peter is competent enough for his position, and no evidence to the contrary is presented.

* '''Invoked''': When it's realized that Peter is incompetent, he's KickedUpstairs.

-->'''Jim''': Peter should have resigned a long time ago. He's not at all cut out to manage this project and he knows it as well as we, but he just won't admit it and I'm sick of his ridiculous displays of dominance because he conflates being an iron-fisted asshole with being a strong leader.

* '''Deconstructed''': Peter's incompetence comes back to bite him in the butt when the newest IncompetenceInc product fails due to him. His entire office is shut down, costing all the employees there their jobs.
* '''Reconstructed''': While there are some heavy losses on his end, Peter's office weathers the storm, but his incompetence is exposed. He's demoted back to Sales, [[{{Unishment}} which is where he wanted to be in the first place]].

** A new hire is told of the PointyHairedBoss, but Peter proves competent in defiance of their expectations.

** The office manager's position has a HighTurnoverRate that goes from an adept manager to an inept one and back quite quickly.

-->'''Jim''': Peter should have resigned a long time ago. He's not at all cut out to manage this project and he knows it, but he just won't admit it and I'm sick of his ridiculous displays of dominance because he conflates being an iron-fisted asshole with being a strong leader.

* '''Reconstructed''': While there are some heavy losses on his end, Peter's office manages to weather the storm, but his incompetence is exposed. He's demoted back to Sales, which is where he wanted to be in the first place.