THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509150067
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY EARL SWIFT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
HE DOESN'T LOOK the hero. Goggle-eyed in wire-rimmed specs, bulging at the waist, his single tie warped with wear, this quiet engineer seems an unlikely spokesman for the working world's downtrodden masses.
Dilbert, however, has become that.
In factories and offices across the land, he has drawn a legion of followers who share his stress over ``downsizing,'' who suffer his ever-heavier workload and tiny pay raises.
They nod their heads knowingly at his clueless boss, at the nonsensical meetings Dilbert attends, at the corporate doublespeak and cutesy sloganeering he weathers.
And they laugh out loud.
To a workforce confused and anxious over the changes sweeping American business, ``Dilbert'' is no simple comic strip. It is satire bordering on sedition, and its title character - dumpy, toque-headed, lacking a mouth and eyeballs - has become an Everyman to whom everyone can relate.
``It's as if he's talking about Sentara,'' said Deborah Myers, a spokeswoman for Sentara Health Systems, noting that some of her colleagues react to the strip with: ``Did he attend our last meeting?''
``I think everybody's experienced a little of everything in there,'' said Brian Whitesell, a management analyst with the city of Norfolk. `` `Dilbert' hits on regular employees' frustrations with their direct supervisors. It just kind of says, `Hey, this is out there.' ''
``He has a real insightful way of coming at some of the issues that are right there in the organization - and in large organizations all over the country,'' said Dean Block, Virginia Beach's director of management and budget. ``We don't fire anybody any more. We downsize them.''
First syndicated in 1989, ``Dilbert'' has exploded in popularity in recent months. It now reaches 35 million readers in more than 400 newspapers. Dilbert and Dogbert, another main character, appear on T-shirts and coffee mugs. America Online devotes a forum to the strip, and the Internet features a World Wide Web site on Dilbert's struggle with the corporate monolith.
Office doors, lockers and bulletin boards throughout the country are studded with ``Dilbert'' cut-outs and photocopies, and the public's hunger for its observations shows no signs of abating.
Perhaps that shouldn't surprise, for not only does the strip tap into an almost universal experience - job stress in the age of Total Quality Management - but it mocks the movement in ways that would bring the angry fist of company gods crashing down on flesh-and-blood workers.
TQM's emphasis on teamwork, management restructuring and euphemisms, along with its near-religious obsession with ``values,'' make it ripe for lampooning.
Thus, Dilbert's boss announced in one strip that his new title was ``thought leader.'' In another, the boss told his team of workers that each member's pay would be based on his co-workers' performance. The strip's last panel showed teammates fighting over the copier as they rushed to produce resumes.
Key to both TQM's foibles and Dilbert's popularity is that ``people are idiots,'' said Scott Adams, the strip's creator, in an interview conducted via the Internet.
``I mean everybody, including me,'' he said. ``There's too much going on for us to realistically master everything we need to know. Our brains aren't that big and our time isn't that bountiful. So we try to bluff our way through things like `Quality' by demonstrating a command of the buzzwords before we understand the concepts.
``To do otherwise would invite political doom.''
Even TQM devotees find ``Dilbert'' insightful. ``The author has a good handle on what's happening in businesses across the country,'' said Myers, who stressed that she is a believer in Sentara's quality-oriented management structure.
``I have seen it posted on individuals' doors, in various offices. I think it gives everybody an opportunity to laugh at the changes that are going on in the workplace, which are difficult while you're going through them.''
``I think he just strikes a chord with a lot of people, with millions of people,'' said Virginia Beach's Block. ``I think it's the fact that the guy is out there in the real world, actually at a job, and the fact that he draws on real experiences.''
Used to be at a job, anyway. Adams started drawing ``Dilbert'' to amuse his co-workers at Pacific Bell in San Francisco, where he worked full-time as an engineer. After rejections from several magazines, Adams landed the strip with the United Media syndicate, which continues to distribute it.
He kept his day job, cranking out the comic before heading to the office. Then, this past June, Adams was ``downsized'' himself.
In a note to his readers posted on the World Wide Web, Adams said that after he was told he'd lost his job, his bearded boss asked that he not introduce a character with a beard. ``Look for a new bearded character later this year,'' he added.
``How will this affect the strip?'' Adams wrote. ``For the past two years I've relied almost exclusively on theme suggestions from readers. My source of inspiration stays the same. And now I don't have to be Mister Nice Guy.
``This is gonna be fun.'' MEMO: Scott Adams can be reached via the Internet at scottadams(AT)aol.com;
``Dilbert'' fans can get more information on the strip via the World
Wide Web at http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/
``Dilbert'' can be read daily in The Pilot's business pages.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Scott Adams created ``Dilbert.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY COMICS SATIRE by CNB