The Office Joker

There was no post yesterday, got home late, went for a drink after football as it was the last game here for an old friend. He was a client manager on a project with me a few years ago and we have continued to meet each week. Now he's off to another job.

But as I periodically emphasise, despite the consistent format, this is not a diary, it is more an offbeat look at business, management, economics and marketing. For example, if we can find unlikely parallels to office management style in the fictional world of Jake Bullett, House MD or Edmund Blackadder, then we can surely find some in The Office.

In many respects, David B of the office was a fine manager (the writers used different names outside the UK). He did not seem too involved with details but tried to focus on the necessary higher level strategising. However he knew it was important to motivate and enthuse his team. And he genuinely cared for them, not just around their day to day tasks but also by encouraging them to develop and grow. But despite his qualities, it seemed that some faceless bureaucrats in the corporation never really appreciated him.

Of course that was only a fictional character from a television show.