E July wrote:
July--I use the whack pack quite often myself. it's a great tool.
The most recent copy of "Journal of the Organization Development Network"
contains an insightful editorial by Dave Nicoli. He offers some thoughts
about Dilbert, Scott Adams, and the Dilbert phenomenon.
The sources for fairy tales, fables and nursery rhymes were people who
were powerless, manipulated, used and subordinated in a cruel and
demeaning world. Nicoli points out that Dilbert cartoons fill that same
niche in the cubicles of the American corporation. I've walked down many
cubicled (?) aisles and seen the dilbertia clutterning those cubicle
walls--I imagine you have too. Nicoli writes, "Scott thinks American
workers must create out of their ordeal a 'hidden transcript' that is a
deep seated critique of the way those that hold power use that power
against them. For Scott, this 'hidden transcript' isn't hidden because it
is invisible or secret; it's hidden because it is disguised in some
elliptical and metamorphosed way by suppressed workers who change it from
a direct critique of their more powerful busses into something still
potent but more innocuous, like folktales, songs, gestures or jokes."
I've begun to look more closely at the cartoons that hang on the cubicle
walls in those companies and agencies that want me to work with them on
conflict management, leadership, and so forth. Those cartoon strips are
what the workers choose to speak for them--and those are the sentiments
that rarely come forth in open conversation.
regards,
Doc
--Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Your partner for workforce development Visit me at http://www.thresholds.com/community/learnshops/index.html Or e-mail me at <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com> Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2361 Phone: 01 360 786 0925 Olympia, WA 98507 USA Fax: 01 360 709 4361
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>