Dear Reader,
Here is a typical conversation with a PHB.
This actually happened to me but in a different context.
We've all encountered a PHB in our work at some time or the other. I was fortunate to have not encountered one for 16 years and then I did. It took me a while to get around it and face the facts. But when you see things from a PHB perspective... well they will make sense from a PHB perspective ;-).
Tell me about the PHBs you've encountered in your work in the comments section.
Until next time.
Jyothin
PS: Stay safe... from the PHB :-)
I never thought I would see this day but nonetheless I have. I've actually encountered a PHB in real life. No really... I'm not kidding. I've really encountered one in real life. And this PHB exactly matches the one in Dilbert's comic strips. For those who don't know, PHB stands for 'Pointy Haired Boss' and is a character in Dilberts comics by Scott Adams. PHB is best described by the first few lines in his Wikipedia page. Copy and pasted below verbatim,
"The Pointy-haired Boss (or Pointy-headed Boss often abbreviated to just PHB[1] or "The Boss") is Dilbert's boss in the Dilbert comic strip. He is notable for his micromanagement, gross incompetence, obliviousness to his surroundings, and unhelpful buzzword usage; yet somehow retains power in the workplace."
AND
The PHB's real name is unknown in the comic...
As much as I'd like to tell you the name of my real life PHB, I'll take a hint from Scott Adams and not name him/her.
What I've come to realize is that it is just not possible to deal with this person. Initially, I used to think that he/she will get over it, it can't be possible that someone is so much like a PHB. I've tried other ways to deal with situations but those too didn't help. Then I recalled PHB in Dilbert and started viewing things from a different lens. It then all made sense. I was able to relate to PHB's behavior in just the same context as in the comic book. Similar situations, similar behavior, and similar results. It was an eye opener and made it a little easy to get through a work day with a PHB around. I could not stop laughing when I actually came across some situations in real life as depicted in the comics (you can read some good ones at The 10 Best Pointy Haired Boss Moments From Dilbert )
I also realized that there are subtle ways to deal with them without them knowing. Here is one link that I found.
Here is another one that I came across...
This one was an interesting read...
The funny thing about PHBs are that they just don't know they are PHB material. They just survive and make other's lives miserable without even realizing it. To top it off they feel they are doing us a favor by being this way. Clearly trying their best to reach the top of the Moron-mountain.
Here is a typical conversation with a PHB.
- Dilbert: I discovered a hole in our Internet security.
- PointyHairedBoss: What?!! Good grief, man! How could you put a hole in our Internet?
- Dilbert: I didn't _put_ it there. I _found_ it... And it's not...
- PointyHairedBoss: It's your job to fix that hole. I want you to work 24-7!
- Dilbert: Actually, that's _not_ my job. But I'll inform our network management group.
- PointyHairedBoss: PASSING THE BUCK! YOU'RE A BUCK PASSER!
- Dilbert: Forget it! There's no hole! It got better.
- PointyHairedBoss: That's more like it.
- PointyHairedBoss (thinking to himself): I fixed the Internet.
This actually happened to me but in a different context.
We've all encountered a PHB in our work at some time or the other. I was fortunate to have not encountered one for 16 years and then I did. It took me a while to get around it and face the facts. But when you see things from a PHB perspective... well they will make sense from a PHB perspective ;-).
Tell me about the PHBs you've encountered in your work in the comments section.
Until next time.
Jyothin
PS: Stay safe... from the PHB :-)