Editing Dilbert (section)

==Legacy==
The popularity of the comic strip within the corporate sector led to the Dilbert character being used in many business magazines and publications, including several appearances on the cover of ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune Magazine]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K8zJw-CshBYC&dq=Dilbert+character+has+being+used+in+many+business+magazines&pg=SA2-PA5 |title=Current Trends in Management |publisher=Nirali Prakashan |isbn=978-93-80064-06-2 |language=en}}</ref> Many newspapers ran the comic in their business section rather than in the regular comics section—similar to the way that ''[[Doonesbury]]'' is often featured in the editorial section, due to its pointed commentary.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cogan |first1=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exnm6T0ALvsC&dq=Doonesbury+is+often+featured+in+the+editorial+newspaper+section&pg=PA303 |title=Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture |last2=Kelso |first2=Tony |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-34379-7 |language=en}}</ref>

===Criticism and parody===
Media analyst [[Norman Solomon]] and cartoonist [[Tom Tomorrow]] said<ref>{{cite book |last1=Solomon |first1=Norman |author-link1=Norman Solomon |author-last2=Tomorrow |author-first2=Tom |author-link2=Tom Tomorrow |date=1997 |title=The Trouble with Dilbert: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh |url=https://archive.org/details/troublewithdilbe00solo_0 |location=Monroe, Maine |publisher=Common Courage Press |isbn=1-56751-132-5}}</ref> Adams's caricatures of corporate culture seem to project empathy for white-collar workers, but the satire ultimately plays into the hands of upper corporate management itself. Solomon describes the characters of ''Dilbert'' as dysfunctional, none of whom occupies a position higher than [[middle management]], and whose inefficiencies detract from general corporate values such as productivity and growth<!-- -the following clause removed for lack of sense:, a very favorable outlook for managers- -->. Dilbert and his coworkers often find themselves baffled or victimized by the whims of managerial behavior, but they never seem to question it openly. Solomon cites the [[Xerox]] corporation's use of ''Dilbert'' strips and characters in internally distributed pamphlets:

{{blockquote|text=Xerox management had recognized what more gullible ''Dilbert'' readers did not: ''Dilbert'' is an offbeat sugary substance that helps the corporate medicine go down. The ''Dilbert'' phenomenon accepts—and perversely eggs on—many negative aspects of corporate existence as unchangeable facets of human nature... As Xerox managers grasped, ''Dilbert'' speaks to some very real work experiences while simultaneously eroding inclinations to fight for better working conditions.}}

Adams responded in the February 2, 1998, strip<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/1998-02-02/ |title=Dilbert comic strip for February 2, 1998 |publisher=Dilbert.com |access-date=June 30, 2013 |archive-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723191751/http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1998-02-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in his book ''The Joy of Work'' with a sarcastic reiteration.

In 1997, [[Tom Vanderbilt]] wrote in a similar vein in ''[[The Baffler]]'' magazine:

{{blockquote|text=Labor unions haven't adopted ''Dilbert'' characters as insignia. But corporations in droves have rushed to link themselves with ''Dilbert''. Why? ''Dilbert'' mirrors the mass media's crocodile tears for working people—and echoes the ambient noises from [[Wall Street]].}}

In 1998, [[Bill Griffith]], creator of ''[[Zippy the Pinhead]]'', chided ''Dilbert'' for crude drawings and simplistic humor. He wrote,
{{blockquote|Long since psychically kidnapped by the gaudy, mindlessly hyperactive world of television, (readers) no longer demand or expect comic strips to be compelling, challenging, or even interesting. Enter ''[[Cathy]]''. And ''Dilbert''. Sure, comics are still funny. It's just that the humor has almost no "nutritional" value. In the tiny space allotted to them, daily strips have all too successfully adapted to their new environment. In this Darwinian set-up, what thrives are simply drawn panels, minimal dialogue, and a lot of head-and-shoulder shots. Anything more complicated is deemed "too hard to read". A full, rich drawing style is a drawback. Simplicity, even crudity, rules.<ref>Griffith, Bill (November 10, 1996) [http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aaarticles.html "Comics at 100."] Articles by Bill Griffith. (Retrieved 9-12-2016.)</ref>|title=|source=}}

Adams responded by creating two comic strips called ''Pippy the Ziphead'', in which Dogbert creates a comic by "cramming as much artwork in [it] as possible so no one will notice there's only one joke", and it's "on the reader".<ref>{{cite web |title=Dilbert comic strip for May 18, 1998 |url=http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-18 |access-date=June 30, 2013 |publisher=Dilbert.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015215555/http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-18 |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Dilbert says that the strip is "nothing but a clown with a small head who says random things", and Dogbert responds that he is "maintaining [his] artistic integrity by creating a comic that no one will enjoy."<ref>{{cite web |title=Dilbert comic strip for 19 May 1998 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive |url=https://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-19 |access-date=September 11, 2009 |publisher=Dilbert.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530220500/https://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-19 |archive-date=May 30, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> In September of the same year, Griffith mocked Adams's ''Pippy the Ziphead'' with a strip of the same name drawn in a simplistic, stiff, ''Dilbert''-like style set in an office setting and featuring the characters Zippy and Griffy retorting, "I sense a joke was delivered." "Yes. It was. My one joke. Ha."<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=20-Sep-98&Category_Code=sun1998&Product_Count=37 |title=Zippy the Pinhead comic strip for 20 September 1998 from the official Zippy the Pinhead comic strips archive |publisher=zippythepinhead.com |access-date=December 6, 2009}}</ref>

=== Language ===
<!-- Other articles link here, add {{anchor|Language}} if you change this heading -->
Adams has invited readers to invent words that have become popular among fans in describing their own office environments, such as ''induhvidual''. This term is based on the [[American English]] slang expression "[[wikt:duh|duh]]!" The conscious misspelling of ''individual'' as ''induhvidual'' is a [[pejorative]] term for people who are not in Dogbert's New Ruling Class (DNRC).<ref>{{cite book |last=Aden |first=Roger C. |date=2007 |title=Popular Stories and Promised Lands: Fan Cultures and Symbolic Pilgrimages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxvm5oxF1aYC&pg=PA136 |edition=1st |publisher=University Alabama Press | pages=135–137 | isbn=978-0817354725 }}</ref> Its coining is explained in ''Dilbert Newsletter'' #6. The strip has also popularized the usage of the terms ''cow-orker'' and [[Pointy-haired Boss|''PHB'']].<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 11, 2002 |title=Dilbert.com - DNRC - Read the Newsletter |url=http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/html/newsletter17.html |access-date=January 28, 2022 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020811101942/http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/html/newsletter17.html |archive-date=August 11, 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=PHB|url=http://catb.org/jargon/html/P/PHB.html|access-date=January 28, 2022|website=catb.org}}</ref>

===Management===
In 1997, Adams masqueraded as a management consultant to [[Logitech]] executives (as Ray Mebert), with the cooperation of the company's vice-chairman. He acted in much the way that he portrays management consultants in the comic strip, with an arrogant manner and bizarre suggestions, such as comparing [[mission statement]]s to broccoli soup. He convinced the executives to change their existing mission statement for their New Ventures Group from "provide Logitech with profitable growth and related new business areas" to "scout profitable growth opportunities in relationships, both internally and externally, in emerging, mission-inclusive markets, and explore new paradigms and then filter and communicate and evangelize the findings".<ref>[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19971116/2572663/dilbert-creator-fools-execs-with-soap-story ''Dilbert Creator Fools Execs With Soap Story''], [[Associated Press]], from the Web page of ''[[The Seattle Times]]'', November 16, 1997.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000914093255/http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/humor/scott-adams-mgmt-consultant ''Dilbert Creator Fools Executives''], AP story, in full, preserved on [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] humor bulletin board, November 15, 1997. Link to the archive.org version.</ref><ref>[http://www.reason.com/news/show/30913.html ''The Dilbert Doctrines: An Interview with Scott Adams'', by Virginia Postrel], [[Reason (magazine)|Reason]], February 1999.</ref>

Adams has worked with companies to develop "dream" products for Dilbert and company. In 2001, he collaborated with design company [[IDEO]] to come up with the "perfect cubicle", since many of the ''Dilbert'' strips make fun of the standard [[Cubicle|cubicle desk]] and the environment that it creates.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Porter Anderson |title=Fred Dust: Designing for Dilbert |publisher=CNN Career |date=August 28, 2001 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/08/28/dilbert.fred.dust.focus/index.html |access-date=March 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429114333/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/08/28/dilbert.fred.dust.focus/index.html |archive-date=April 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Porter Anderson|title=Scott Adams: Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle|publisher=CNN Career|date=August 28, 2001|url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/08/28/dilbert.scott.adams/index.html|access-date=March 10, 2007}}</ref>

This project was followed in 2004 with designs for Dilbert's Ultimate House<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-10-01 |title=Dilbert Ultimate House |url=http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/duh/index.html |access-date=2023-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041001095014/http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/duh/index.html |archive-date=October 1, 2004 }}</ref> (abbreviated as DUH). An energy-efficient building was the result, designed to prevent many of the little problems that seem to creep into a normal building.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boehl |first=Jessica |date=January 1, 2005 |title=Dilbert's Ultimate House Completed |url=https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/dilberts-ultimate-house-completed |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=BuildingGreen |language=en}}</ref> For instance, to save time spent buying and decorating a Christmas tree every year, the house has a large (yet unapparent) closet adjacent to the living room where the tree can be stored from year to year.

===Webcomics===
In 1995, ''Dilbert'' was the [[List of early webcomics|first]] syndicated comic strip to be published for free on the Internet.<ref name="Gallo">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/10/23/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-reveals-the-simple-formula-that-will-double-your-odds-of-success/#54f98fbd1a3e|magazine=[[Forbes]]|title=Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Reveals The Simple Formula That Will Double Your Odds Of Success|last=Gallo|first=Carmine|date=October 23, 2013}}</ref> Putting his email address in each ''Dilbert'' strip, Adams created a "direct channel to [his] customers", allowing him to modify the strip based on their feedback.<ref name="Gallo"/> [[Joe Zabel]] stated that ''Dilbert'' had a large influence on many of the [[webcomic]]s that followed it, establishing the "[[nerd]]core" genre as it found its audience.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webcomicsreview.com/examiner/issue050912/history1.html | publisher=The Webcomics Examiner | title=The Artistic History of Webcomics&nbsp;— A Webcomics Examiner Roundtable|author=Various|year=2005|archive-date=November 24, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124120515/http://webcomicsreview.com/examiner/issue050912/history1.html|ref=Examiner}}</ref>

In April 2008, [[United Media]] instituted an interactive feature on Dilbert.com, allowing fans to write speech bubbles. Adams has spoken positively about the change, saying, "This makes cartooning a competitive sport."<ref>{{Cite news|author=Brad Stone|title=Scott Adams Hands "Dilbert" Pen to Fans|url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/scott-adams-hands-dilbert-pen-to-fans/|work=The New York Times|date=April 18, 2008|access-date=May 14, 2008|archive-date=January 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114221900/http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/scott-adams-hands-dilbert-pen-to-fans/|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{update inline|inaccurate=yes|date=December 2016}}