You Don't Need Experience if You've Got Attitude

by Scott Adams

Scott Adams provides an inside view of bosses, meetings, management fads and other workplace afflictions, through his cartoon character, Dilbert. This collection unleashes the caustic treatise of Dogbert, Dilbert's sarcastic canine companion, onto the unsuspecting masses.

Genres: Comics, Humor

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

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

[Louise L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a VERY short but colorful book that is almost completely filled with Dogbert and hardly any Dilbert. It lacks substance and is sadly over before it has really begun. I was somewhat disappointed with this book, even though I am normally a great fan of Dogbert's evil antics. Perhaps I was expecting too much.

[Brentman99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, not bad. However, it is another book that I was glad that I bought used. yhis one had "cash grab"written all over it. I like the characters and there was a few really funny panels, but it was way too short for value.

Okay if you get it used like I did.