Teamwork Means You Can't Pick the Side That's Right

Dilbert #38

by Scott Adams

He's the icon of millions of corporate workers, the most popular cubicle dweller on this planet. He spends his days in endless meetings with incompetent supervisors, performing perfunctory tasks mixed with the occasional team-building, brainstorming, or management fad-of-the-day session. He has entertained us for more than two decades: He's Dilbert.

Created in 1989 by Adams, in his own cubicle as a doodle distraction, Dilbert has found a home in the workplace, this generation's home away from home. Adams amuses readers with his portrayal of the absurdities of this environment with unfailing accuracy and precision. As readers of more than 2,000 newspapers, millions of books, and the newly revamped Dilbert site know, the familiar mouthless character with the upturned tie, his dog, Dogbert, the pointy-haired Boss, over-achieving Alice and underachieving Wally, Human Resources director Catbert, depict a world that's all too easy to recognize, complete with shrinking cubicles, clueless co-workers, focus groups and ill-conceived management concepts.

In this all-new chronological collection, Adams further exploits the fodder of workaday life, making even the most cynical cubicle dweller laugh at our shared, absurd work lives.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Comic Strips, Business, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 17, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Scott Adams was a defining voice of the American white-collar experience who transitioned from a prominent cartoonist into a polarizing political commentator. After earning an MBA from UC Berkeley and spending years in management at Pacific Bell, Adams launched the comic strip Dilbert in 1989. The strip’s sharp satire of corporate bureaucracy and the "Dilbert Principle"—the idea that incompetent employees are promoted to management to minimize their damage—resonated globally, eventually appearing in 2,000 newspapers and winning the prestigious Reuben Award. Beyond the funny pages, Adams explored philosophy and persuasion in works like God's Debris and Win Bigly, the latter of which analyzed Donald Trump’s rhetorical strategies during the 2016 election. His career took a dramatic turn during the mid-2010s as he shifted focus to his daily "Real Coffee" livestream, where he combined his background in hypnosis and corporate strategy to comment on the "culture wars." This period of independent commentary culminated in 2023 when he reacted to a poll regarding racial tensions with a series of inflammatory remarks. Labeling Black Americans a "hate group" and advocating for racial segregation, Adams faced immediate and widespread repercussions; hundreds of newspapers dropped his strip, and his publisher canceled his upcoming projects. Undeterred, he moved his work to the subscription-based platform Locals, rebranding his comic as Dilbert Reborn. In his final years, he faced severe health challenges, including stage IV prostate cancer and vocal cord issues, yet he remained a prolific presence on social media. He eventually announced the end of his hand-drawn work due to focal dystonia but continued to direct the strip's vision. Adams’s legacy remains a complex study in the power of branding, the evolution of digital influence, and the volatile intersection of creative genius and political provocation in the modern era.

Reviews

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of "Dilbert" comic strips from February 13, 2011 to November 20, 2011 from before the cartoonists career imploded, relatively funny.
It aged well enough.

[S.P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite strip in the book



It really is the way engineers think...

[Петър Стойков · Rating 1 out of 5]

Последната книга на Скот Адамс е много добра, но той всъщност печели известност и богатство с карикатурите за Дилбърт. Настоящата книга е сбор от такива карикатури, свързани, поне според съставителя, със сътрудничеството в офисната обстановка.

Прочетох половината стрипове и не се засмях нито на един, нито пък намерих нещо остроумно или описващо по забавен начин работата в офис. Честно, не знам аз ли не съм целевата аудитория на тоя тип хумор (въпреки, че 10 г. съм работил в офис), или разликата между американската и българската офисна култура е толкова голяма, или пък тия комикси са остарели вече...

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Tim Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

No real genius in this collection, but still good for a chuckle.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's not much point in reviewing Dilbert books, really, since they're all pretty much the same. If you like one, you'll like the others, more or less, and I like them. Lots of snarky, anti-bureaucratic humour, rendered simply. Rarely memorable but usually amusing.

[Joseph Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow, not as funny as Dilbert once was. There is a pronounced lack of good story arcs, and I only laughed a few times: small chuckles, not bursting ones like with other volumes. Maybe the work seems stale, less witty? If anything, Dilbert has become dumber and more antisocial, Wally has become more one track, the women are dumber... Even Dogbert seems to be phoning it in with his schemes. Am just missing the sense of connection in this volume. Any facade of Dilbert's optimism is gone, and that makes him a more boring 2d facsimile of what he used to be.

[SKP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all of the Dilbert books that I can get my hands on! I think they are hilarious, and anyone who has had a job in a corporate setting especially can relate to them. I always get a kick out of them!

[Jess Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for anyone working in an office

Training manual
I recently went through some training at work then read this book. Yep! This is a great training manual for those trying to survive or thrive in corporate America.

[Will Sisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun but still relevant collection of Dilbert cartoons to amuse the modern worker.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s Dilbert

What more need one say. Thoroughly enjoyable as always. Eleven more words are required before I can stop writing, so…

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dilbert books are always fun quick reads. This is a later collection, and Dilbert seems to be a bit more cynical, but that just adds to the humor. There aren't any long form series here, nothing lasts more than 3-4 strips, but it's as biting as ever (and actually more so in some places - the addition of the company CEO as a fairly common character allows for barbs aimed higher up the company chain). As always, too much of it feels too on point for someone who works within a large corporation. It's not that far from the truth in many ways.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of these definitely made me giggle but my favorite has to be the upgrade to becoming Toxic Coworkers who only open discussions with topics everyone will fight about or constantly whine about their personal lives. Yup. I hear that one.

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very entertaining addition to the Dilbert corpus. My favorite involved someone telling the gang he did digital curation. Dilbert said he did not even know what that was. So the individual mocks Dilbert. When Dilbert asks him to explain what digital curation is, he can't.

[Sharakael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read when you don't feel like thinking too much.
This book feels like an incomplete collection - there were strips that felt like it was part of a longer story arc... wish the entire thing was included.
The book I borrowed from the library was full colour so that was pretty nice.

[Dave Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be really, really funny if it wasn't so true!

[Sue]

very fun

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

He's funnier as an author when he's either more bizarre or he balances the office stuff with other strips. This was too office-heavy.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Dilbert humor. Some of the business ling is over my head. Needs more Wally!

[Sadie-Jane Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

scott is always a hoot. u either love dilbert or u dont. Thank goodness I do.

[Mohamed Sameh · Rating 4 out of 5]

very funny work jokes :D

[Michael Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best

I have many of these on my cubicle wall. This is one of SA's best collections. Scott Adam's has found his skeevy way into my wallet.

[Jennifer Mitchell-Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get the humor of Dilbert. Fun read.

[Pedro Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

So real it hurts