History Main / TheDilbertPrinciple

** When Homer's new hair gets him a promotion, he suggests having the cafeteria give out more tartar sauce. This has the intended effect of improving morale 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.

* 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 (in a paperless office!) at Ecosystems Unlimited so that there was no way he could do any damage to the terraforming project, [[spoiler:it didn't work.]]

* The senior managers seen occasionally in ''Series/TheOfficeUK'' 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 higher-functioning David Brents who have managed to thrive and survive in the system and ascend to the next level - who are recognizing 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.

[[folder:Film]]

* The documentary films ''{{Film/Fyre}}'' and ''Film/TheInventorOutForBloodInSiliconValley'' both give frightening real-life examples of how this kind of cronyism can lead to disaster. Billy [=McFarland=] and Elizabeth Holmes were both essentially trust fund brats who no actual training or experience at the projects they wanted their companies to work on. In [=McFarland=]'s case, the logistical complexities of running a full scale music festival on an isolated island with no infrastructure in place for something on that scale - ''measurable'' limitations such as the amount of houses, water, and ''toilets'' they would specifically need for a crowd of that size. Holmes claimed she had invented a revolutionary blood testing machine that only required a single drop of blood to perform over 200 tests - which ''every'' medical expert interviewed stated is impossible due to inherent physical limitations (and while she claimed she'd prove them wrong, she never offered a shred of evidence). Both of them are presented as being ''extremely'' charismatic frauds, who only came to lead their companies due to 1 - coming from money in the first place, and 2 - only being skilled at the things needed to ''get'' their positions: charisma and flattery.

* The documentary films ''Film/Fyre'' and ''Film/TheInventorOutForBloodInSiliconValley'' both give frightening real-life examples of how this kind of cronyism can lead to disaster. Billy [=McFarland=] and Elizabeth Holmes were both essentially trust fund brats who no actual training or experience at the projects they wanted their companies to work on. In [=McFarland=]'s case, the logistical complexities of running a full scale music festival on an isolated island with no infrastructure in place for something on that scale - ''measurable'' limitations such as the amount of houses, water, and ''toilets'' they would specifically need for a crowd of that size. Holmes claimed she had invented a revolutionary blood testing machine that only required a single drop of blood to perform over 200 tests - which ''every'' medical expert interviewed stated is impossible due to inherent physical limitations (and while she claimed she'd prove them wrong, she never offered a shred of evidence). Both of them are presented as being ''extremely'' charismatic frauds, who only came to lead their companies due to 1 - coming from money in the first place, and 2 - only being skilled at the things needed to ''get'' their positions: charisma and flattery.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}: Among the Transformers fandom, there are jokes that this trope is part of the reason Starscream has such a high rank despite being, well, TheStarscream. However, in-universe this is very much averted when it comes to combat: in a fight almost all Starscreams are generally genuinely dangerous warriors and taken very, very seriously.

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.

The name of the principle was coined by cartoonist Scott Adams -- naming it after his comic stip series ''Dilbert'' -- who identified this trend as common in businesses. He wrote a book describing the principle in detail.

* 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 {{discouragement}}; the two consultants later gush over him because the [[JerkassHasAPoint Jerkass Had A Point]] and he was the only one with the [[HonestAdvisor guts to say it]].

* 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. He also identifies a long list of inefficiencies within corporate processes and explains how the work environment naturally leads to {{dismotivation}}; the two consultants later gush over him because the [[JerkassHasAPoint Jerkass Had A Point]] and he was the only one with the [[HonestAdvisor guts to say it]].
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheLastJedi'', this is how Supreme Leader Snoke justifies keeping General Armitage Hux in his position:
-->'''Snoke:''' You wonder why I keep a rabid cur in such a place of power? A cur's weakness, properly manipulated, can be a sharp tool.

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 [[{{Nepotism}} cronyism]] to attempts to subvert the Peter Principle 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) or skills that are more relevant to ''getting'' a job than to ''doing'' it ([[TheSocialExpert manipulation]], [[ProfessionalButtKisser flattery]], etc). In any case, the human roadblocks are thus removed, leaving the employees who actually ''can'' work to get on with it... but if they ''wanted'' the promotion, [[PassedOverPromotion their morale will take a hit]].

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.

* In ''Series/TheWire'' has this as a principle theme, showing that in many organizations the people who are best at ''looking'' like they're doing their job well get promoted over the people who ''actually are'' doing their job well. And the things you need to do to look like you're doing well are usually in direct opposition to actually doing well. For example, the police bosses force their patrolmen to make lots of petty street busts rather than go after the real drug lords so their arrest rates go up and they get promotions.

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 [[{{Nepotism}} 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) or skills that are more relevant to ''getting'' a job than to ''doing'' it ([[TheSocialExpert manipulation]], [[ProfessionalButtKisser flattery]], 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 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 [[{{Nepotism}} 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.

* In ''Series/TheWire'' has this is a principle theme, showing that in many organizations the people who are best at ''looking'' like they're doing their job well get promoted over the people who ''actually are'' doing their job well. And the things you need to do to look like you're doing well are usually in direct opposition to actually doing well. For example, the police bosses force their patrolmen to make lots of petty street busts rather than go after the real drug lords so their arrest rates go up and they get promotions.
* The senior managers seen occasionally in ''Series/TheOfficeUK'' 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 higher-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.

* 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 morale 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.

** 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.

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[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

->''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''', ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''

** Used again in the "Scorpio" episode when another company gives him a management position based solely on his seniority in Burns' plant. He turns out to be a shockingly good manager once removed from actual workflow, largely by being savvy enough to stay out of his team's way and focusing on keeping morale up.

* The senior managers seen occasionally 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 higher-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.

* 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}}; the two consultants later gush over him because the [[JerkassHasAPoint Jerkass Had A Point]] and he was the only one with the [[HonestAdvisor guts to say it]].
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheLastJedi'', this is how Supreme Leader Snoke justifies keeping General Armitage Hux in his functions

* 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.