One of my Christmas presents was Dilbert 2.0 by Scott Adams.  

(Hi Scott, I know you’re on Google Alert, so now that I’ve said ‘Dilbert’ and ‘Scott Adams,’ I realize that you may pop by and see what’s going on over here. If you do…well…welcome! Thanks for Dilbert, your books, and your blog, they’ve given me a lot to laugh about and think about over the years.) 

| Sidebar | Google Alert is kind of like the new Bat Signal isn’t it? We need a Dilbert Alert in the following circumstances:

1) Blind faith in business jargon is expected; e.g. “We have to approach the paradigm shift strategically.” 

2) When infrastructure turns sociopathic. Witness this nightmare of customer service.

Suddenly a Dilbert Shadow would appear in the company’s intranet, anonymous memos showing up with no words, just an ominous Dilbert watermark. It would be the proverbial writing on the wall to let people know that they are about to show up in a Dilbert cartoon or discussed on the Dilbert blog.

BEWARE! MOCKING IMMINENT! REPENT YOUR CORPORATE WAYS!

Anyhoo. Back to the business at hand. Enough flights of fancy, this is a serious bjournal gol darn it!

I thought Dilbert 2.0 was a really good read, which is saying something for a comic. I enjoyed Scott’s description of how Dilbert came to be and his journey up to iconic status. It was unexpectedly inspirational. I did put the book down even more cynical in terms of business jargon, which all things considered is probably a good thing — and I was probably there anyway. I enjoyed his commentary on selected comics so much that I wanted there to be a commentary on every single one, which I know is just greedy, but I just can’t help it. I want what I want.

This is the cartoon from way back in the dark ages — March 3, 1996 to be exact —  that made me love Dilbert:

Dilbert, March 3, 1996 by Scott Adams

I think it’s hilariously shocking to see someone (albeit in a comic) identify out loud what the dynamics of the situation really are and how that simple act sends Dilbert into this outrageous act of honesty. I still think it’s delightful.

To summarize: Dilbert 2.0. Good. You should buy it.