I used to think the Bob's were idiots; now 25 years later I realize that they might be the only characters to fully embrace and understand Peter's genius in the whole movie.
It’s the first time they are actually getting something honest told to them. Something that matches the numbers in front of them. And he actually gave them a bunch of different insights on how to ramp up productivity and limit administrative redundancies
@@ChimpytheMonkey Like: get seven of these eight bosses fired or initiate a bonus system (which is by now pretty much the standard for many companies).
Homer Simpson said it best, "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in everyday and do it really half-assed. That's the American way."
@@matthewerwin4677 I have a friend who was a buck sergeant in my National Guard Unit 30 years ago. He caught a lot of crap because he was honest, and gave as good as he got no matter who was giving. He was thinking about quitting. Another friend told him, “No, don’t leave...that’s what they want you to do. Stay and be a thorn in their side.” He retired not long ago as a Sergeant Major.
“If there’s a task that must be done, Don’t turn your tail and run, Don’t pout, don’t sob, Just do a half-assed job.” - Shary Bobbins, “Cut Every Corner.”
Actually rather strange. Normally they would be suggesting more management to raise the efficiency of the workforce. Which, of course, they turn around and do by suggesting Peter for upper management. Come to think of it, maybe that's why they balked. "What? Only eight? Well, we'll just have to double that..."
@@rcslyman8929 No we don't. Not more, better. It's just that, in the end, those managers who knew the plan, who knew what we were trying to achieve, get replaced by people who shouldn't be there. People who do a lot of damage trying to hide the fact they shouldn't be there. Part of the problem is that being a good manager is actually really difficult. There aren't enough suitable people going around, so the ambitious get to have a go instead.
@@AdmiralBison Nah, banking just went online and the vice presidents all go a big redundancy payout and are living in luxury in the Bahamas just before the bank went bankrupt.
He was unafraid to pull the sheets off of the things that made Initech so awful. These guys were interested in stock equity to offer to employees to give them skin in the game and see some real results from their own work. 8 bosses? Sounds like the cuts need to happen a little higher on the totem pole. They had the right ideas once Peter got involved. I used to hate the Bobs but they were more of a chance for positive change than anybody else like Lumberg.
I ended an interview the other day like this with a few old school executives who just stared at me for an hour, sans the good luck with the firings part
Done in such a casual confident manner, I don't even think the Bobs fully realized Peter ended the meeting for them. They just kind of naturally thought "That's the end of the meeting, guess our time is up"
@@kavanbrown3149 Mindset. Personality. Outside factors like, yes, money, your lover, shame etc Personally I'm pretty sure I destroyed my rewards center of my brain through my addiction from first year of high school until like age 26-27. Final years of brain development and I was confusing my brain.
As someone who has been in management for years, I know it's comedy, but the feedback Peter gave is spot on what you're looking for. He spoke to *everything* why the company is evaluating layoffs: lack of company motivation, no recognition of hard work, top-heavy management looking to show they have value by cracking whips for tiny mistakes, etc. The irony is that someone who is aware of the issues and can communicate them clearly and calmly *is* potential management material, if not the dreaded consultant. But the rest of the interviewees were probably stuttering over why they should be kept, bitching about the company, and super emotional...not the folks you want in a restructure. As this came from Mike Judge, who later created Silicon Valley, I think it's amazing how in tune he is with dark comedy of how businesses run.
Good points. Im a consultant myself, the interesting problem I have is that I do a combo of interim staffing, and as needed work. Some clients want me to come and do the work permanently, and I say hell no due to the exact systemic problems you mentioned. So my question too, is one of the problems that can emerge in a company like this, is that many managers never worked their way up in the line of work they are expected to manage? Ive been at places that were totally dumpsterfires cause the managers didn't know what the actual job entailed, and only questioned folks on why things weren't working, they basically went to school, graduated, and were on a fast track, they didn't drag their knuckles.
I lived and worked in Silicon Valley for 14 years; from 1996 until 2010. What is interesting is that type of problematic company organization and corporate structure is really a product of those times. Companies nowadays are far more efficient and many have 360 reviews of managers and constant surveys of employees to ensure people are well motivated and productive. It's to say companies like that don't still exist. But many would go out of business as tech workers are still a sought after commodity and it is in the best interest of the company to keep them happy. With that being said, in the late 90s, I got to see a lot of what is depicted here firsthand. One of the big issues in Silicon Valley at that time was the fact that middle managers often came from other sectors or backgrounds. Because Dot Com caused such a massive increase in companies and demand for workers, there just weren't enough skilled, technical managers to fill the gaps. So I had scenarios where I was a programmer and my manager had a background in something entirely non-tech. And they were utterly clueless. Made for some interesting times when it comes to giving them estimates on how long it took to get work done. I coined something I used to call 'Scotty Speak' (named after Scotty from Star Trek) where I would just run off some tech sounding zibberish to the manager and let him/her know it would take several days to do what they asked of me. When in fact, it would only take several hours. ;-)
@@Diomedes01 I had the inverse experience working in tech, also in San Jose. Boss would give me a task, ask me how long it would take. I’d say one hour, knowing it would really only take 10 minutes. He would then tell me that I have three hours, because that’s how long it would take HIM to do it, and he thought I was being cavalier with my estimates. So 10 minutes of work and 2 hours and 50 of just dorking around online. Well not exactly, right around 2 hours and 10 I’d turn in the work and catch praise for being so quick. This went on for 7 years. Good times.
Now we have new kinds of inefficiencies. Where I work I have like 10 different usernames and pwd's for all sorts of things, including things that have zero security implications if they were just left unprotected, but since the tech exists we must use it on any and every device that draws electricity. Each of those usernames and pwd's periodically have to be updated, but at different intervals, so every week i'm having to make at least one new one, which I can't do until a 2nd person w/their own higher level username and pwd brings up the screen to allow me to do so. And if he's not around, then I can't do my work until he is so I can make a new pwd and get into the needed device. Then there's outsourcing. As an example: our own mechanics used to be in charge of changing light bulbs if lights burned out. Now we outsource it to a 3rd party. Not that we replaced the mechanics, they are still around, they just don't do lights anymore, even though we have plenty of lights on site if any are needed and no one needs any expertise or certification to perform the changing of a light. They aren't special sci-fi lights or anything just normal lights to make a space brighter. They work just like the lights in your home. Its been decided that outsourcing must be good, so that's what we do where its contractually allowed, but randomly and w/no rhyme or reason or perceivable benefit in either time or cost. Same employee count as before the change, plus now the added cost of the 3rd party as well, actually increasing costs lol. Maybe the 3rd party who got the gig is a company owned by someone's favorite nephew or something. Anyhow, what once took a mention to a mechanic and 5 minutes of work to replace a dead light, now involves about a dozen people, phone calls, emails, frustrations, phone tag, interactions between 2 organizations, and an interminably long wait before anything gets done. And if you get exasperated and just change the light yourself you get yelled at. Then we'll have meetings saying its unsafe to work in poorly lit areas, ran by the same people who would be the ones to yell at you if you didn't follow procedure and just changed the light yourself, lol. The bobs would have no shortage at all of fun things to look at where I work.
8 really isn't that many. Manager and assistant manager. Regional and/or district manager, with potentially the board of directors. Then you have a department head and ones for the other departments and technically they outrank you and can give you tasks to complete.
@kyleellis1825 I agree but its bizarre that so many members of Upper management would be taking time out their day to call Peter about something that only his line manager and project manager would need to remind him about once. You'd only commit this much time if it was recurring and needed corrective actions. Those bosses have nothing better to do if they're chasing up on a cover sheet being forgotten. Just trying to pad their timesheets or show to their own bosses they're "improving" procedures.
@@kyleellis1825I’m fairly certain that by “8 different bosses” they mean 8 different managers/people he reports to. The whole point of the Bobs is that they were brought in to cut down on inefficiencies which is why they perked up. Because that would be grossly inefficient. Whereas with a hierarchy, while technically being a boss of everyone below them, isn’t someone you’d really call your “boss” as a grunt
@@kyleellis1825 But it's 8 bosses that didn't notice how little actual work Peter does at the office. If 8 bosses shows up to hassle him about tiny mistakes but none of them ever noticed how little work he does, chances are at least some of those bosses aren't doing their work of supervising the employees.
No joke, that happened to my friend at a casino that he worked at. To skip the politics of Native American Tribal elections, let's just say they were doing their rounds of firing people because of the elections and cash flow and crap, my friends saw his friends get fired and he knew he was on the chopping block. So he he worked half ass that week and just knew he was getting fired and at the end of the day, he was called into the office. This moment, he knew he was fired and instead, they gave him raise.
'Out on a limb' had "the Jims", 2 brothers named Jim. One was named after their dad and the other was named after their grandpa. They were very dumb. Jamming to classical music:"you sure you got the right station? This don't sound like Iron Maiden." "It's live concert, it always sounds different live." This is the first movie I ever saw John C. Reilly in.
I like how Peter approaches life with his newfound attitude. Where others entering this situation would likely be worried about getting the ax, he cheerfully greets the Bobs. He pours himself a glass of water as if he were in his own kitchen and proceeds to shoot the shit with them like they're old friends. Boss behavior.
@@Caitanyadasa108 However, the 8 bosses thing would have quickly gotten the attention of any "efficiency expert". They would appreciate and respect him having the balls to tell them that. But acting overly flippant, coming in in jeans and rumpled flannel, saying "I'm gonna go", that would never fly.
not really, One dumb psychopath Bengali American (new sheriff in management) who tried to cut my pay by $15 per hour. He tried to twist my wrist in a meeting and said you will be out of the project (not mentioned fired) if I don't agree to his demands. I responded calmly, "alright. when's the last date? today or some other day". The moron just stood up and said I'll let you know and then went out of the room mumbling. I was there for another 11 months, which I shouldn't have. Anyone can do this when that person decides not to take any more abuse and is ready to walk out. I left that toxic boss when my contract was over (after 11 months later). It was one of the good decisions I made.
I work in IT at a very large company with multiple buildings chocked full of cube farms. This movie is based in reality far more than a lot of people would ever imagine.
I'm from Europe. When I want to the states on business my first point of call was to see the 'cube farms', as we work in open plan offices, with massive windows. They didn't disappoint. It was baffling to see people in adjacent cubes talking to each other on the phone ;)
It's the eight bosses thing that got to them. Their job is to make the company more efficient, and unless your department has like a thousand people what the hell does it need eight bosses for?
I think that they are just so taken aback that someone for once told them the truth. Everyone else embellishes to make themselves seem more valuable. Human nature is to value rarity and Peter is the most rare thing they’ve ever seen in this corporate world. Honest and forthcoming.
I think you think too much and it's just a movie and a comedy at that.. created by Mike Judge, who is known for his factual comedies like Beavis and butthead and king of the hill.
Administration is a cancer that eventually grows to the point where it starts replacing healthy tissue in important organs until the organism is destroyed.
@@ralphythegeneral Have you never heard of interpreting works of fiction so that you can learn from it? There's entire high school and university courses based on it, there called English classes.
1:35 I love Bobs reaction here to Peter asking "So where's the motivation?", it feels like a genuine reaction of "Yeah, I guess you're right, there is no motivation to do more work if you don't get anything for it" Side note, those two guys in the background are walking around in a circle... I wonder how much of their day they spend doing that.
It is something you notice a lot when you are doing office scenes in TV shows. You have about 10 extras whose only task is to look busy in the back ground. I use to chuckle because nobody walks that much in a office setting. There are practically no paper files. And it is just people chugging data into PCs, BSing with co-workers, or talking on phones. Yet in the TV shows and movies, it is always people walking back and forth.
@@superdave8248 Hollywood writers are usually disconnected with current reality and especially in order movies like this one, but that used to be pretty common. Even when computers were introduced to the office and documents could be sent electronically, lots of business practices still revolved around bringing files to various departments in person and/or you had people walking around checking on people. Today, some businesses still use paper files for things and it's often due to industry regulations (EX: the financial industry still has to maintain paper copies of some things).
@@superdave8248 What do you mean no one walks that much in an office setting? We regularly have walking meetings. And when you do that, you can easily lap by the same conference room multiple times. It's better than sitting all day.
This movie should have gotten an Oscar for costume design. My dad was a big boss at an office like this when I was a kid in the early 90’s (he’s a hell of a lot cooler than the folks in this movie lol). I’d have to go to work with him on school breaks, snow days, half days…all that. I can still smell the French vanilla coffee smell that lingered in the break room. Let me tell you they NAILED the look of these office workers. The short sleeve collared shirts, shitty ties, even the bad haircuts. This movie is a masterpiece. One of my all time favs.
I've worked in the software industry since the '80s and they really captured the feel of the office. Also, the supporting characters are perfect...every one reminds me of someone I've worked with.
@@ryanjacobson2508 Was it though? I mostly recall everything being 'X-TREEEEEEMEEEEE' and everyone expressing themselves in the most over-the-top fashion, including what they wore. I thought it was ridiculous but I never knew how bad things would get. I miss the 90s..... I wasn't old enough during the 80s but I enjoyed the 90s.
I just love how he addresses the two Bobs in the singular: Bob. It is both effective and efficient; the typical characteristics of someone in upper level management.
My favorite quote from him on a late night interview was him explaining whenever he worked with an unprepared scene partner... Every item they would mess up he would let them try until the fifth take, then he would lean in and say "Every time you mess up, they're just going to use my coverage, so keep it up."
I love how he says good luck with your layoffs. I hope your firings go really well. Capture the corporate double speak perfectly. This isn’t the only gem in this scene obviously.
The Bob's getting honest feedback made them really happy. Finally something that they can use to improve production. As usual, it was a problem with upper management.
Can you imagine what life is like for the two Bobs? Every single day, and practically every single employee is just people trying to pull the wool over their eyes. People trying to make themselves and their jobs sound 100% essential. And the Bobs have to not only figure out who are the good employees but what is actually happening in a firm, and what is holding that firm back. Then along comes Peter and not only is he brutally honest about what he does himself, but he's talking about bosses, pointless reports, and god knows what else. He straight up did the Bobs jobs for them, and they know they can trust him considering he's even being honest about himself. "The pleasures all on this side of the table" just fantastic
@@scandalouspanda7489but in the real world there is a need for such a system to detect and filter out the bad apples. And if you worked anywhere and any time you fast learn there is always some - on various positions
First watched this movie when I was 14. I am 35 now and work in tech for a megacorp and every aspect of this film is 100% spot on and accurate to this day. The multiple/redundant managers hassling you about the same thing especially hits close to home. 🤣😭
John C McGinley is one of THE best actors around - and has been for a couple of decades. What he did on Scrubs was some of the best and most underrated comedy work ever done.
Yes. His portrayal of Dr Cox was spot on. What could have been a one-dimensional a-hole of a character was very nuanced. We kept getting to see more and more of his vulnerabilities yet he never turned into some soft, nancy boy. He's been great in everything.
Classic scene from this movie. I always notice the white board in the background when he walks in with the chart on it captioned 'PLANNING TO PLAN'. When you see that in an office you know you need to spend the rest of the day (besides the 15 minutes you're actually working) looking for a new job.
I stole a banner from a place of business with an Initech-type name that was titled BOLD STEPS. I planned the heist and returned home to my roommate who had been fired from that place a week before.
One tech company I worked for had a "Pre" meeting. To make sure everyone was using the correct Tech-Speak for the "Real" meeting. Made the manager look very professional. Which wasted at least a half hour and the meeting which wasted another hour. EVERYDAY. They eventually failed and closed the place. $150M down the drain.
Reminds me of a post where someone talked about walking past a meeting room with a white board that just had profit, circled and underlined, written on it. The three occupants were yelling at each other
I remember when managers worked their way up. That particular insight is invaluable to accommodating employees. However today high performing workers are given that line about being too valuable at their current position.
My observation has been most toxic employers would rather endure the setback inherent to the loss of an employee who fills a vital function than give that employee any kind of power. It appears to be a worthwhile trade off to them to lose your.productivity, so long as they can still intimidate the person who fills your place, even if they do it badly.
@@yossarius That depends on the job, if a company is big enough, there is no way a single person is the one running the hole show, so even if you do your job exceptionally, you are where you are (In every company I had work on, I ask for lateral promotions, so the boss knows that I am not after him and I just want more money for more efficient work) or if you are in a small company, if you are good you can easily outgrow your current value and what the company even can pay you, so they are also prepared to let you go... and toxic employers are not toxic to every employee, they know what workers they can attack.
Worse, they are passed over for promotion because, and I quote, "You have a wealth of technical skills that Dewayne lacks, so we can't backfill your position with Dewayne so it makes more sense from an organizational standpoint to put Dewayne in a management position that is more people rather than technical oriented, while also promoting diversity among management." Mike was a SUPER skilled network engineer who knew all systems inside and out, and Dewayne was pretty much useless, but because he was a black male and all L5 staff at that point were white or jewish males they felt they needed diversity. Mike quit that day when they basically told him he would never advance because he was too smart and too white. I told him to pretend to be homosexual at his next job so he can at least tick one diversity box, lol! BTW, Dewayne proved so incompetent, they replaced him after 5 weeks, but only with an equally incompetent even MORE diverse manager who was Mexican gender-queer (dressed as a man) lesbian woman, so she ticked off all the boxes. She lasted for 9 months before the entire department was outsourced to a IT company to work as contractors.
That's why this movie is so brilliant. Because everybody that works in Corporate America knows almost all of this is actually true! What a fake world we live in. (Truman Show quote) "Was nothing real?"
@@JR-bj3uf A lot of companies will over staff when they are doing well to expand rapidly, but eventually things taper off and maybe even drop a bit as the market becomes saturated. Investors, especially, scrutinize over every little fluctuation in profit and overreact, and in turn the company over-corrects to keep the board of investors happy. Mass hires and layoffs, are the easiest ways to boost profits and cut costs in the short term. In their eyes, the workforce is expendable. There is a saying in business, "The ad for your replacement will be posted faster than your obituary."
@@meltedplasticarmyguy There is truth in your statement but I have been wondering, in a time of shrinking populations and fewer trained and motivated individuals is this management model even sustainable?
@@JR-bj3uf I would say no. The world has changed. There is no incentive to be "skilled" anymore. No more drive to be better. I work in construction, and for the past 27 years there have been fewer and fewer quality apprentices. All the "old timers" are retiring (being forced out) and no one is replacing them except for inexperienced people who think they know better. We have moved to a society that thinks having a college degree is a "be all, end all". Here in the next few months, I will be running a multi-million dollar project that will have a few hundred workers working at the same time, all without a degree, I worked my ass off to get where I am. People need to realize that "getting rich quick" never works. You need to crawl before you can run. Be able to accept criticism, and be hungry to learn. Managers needs to elevate potential and cut loose any anchors. Not everyone can be a doctor, a lawyer, or an astronaut, but that's ok.
I love the whiteboard in the background with "Planning To Plan" and the idiotically complicated chart. That's the corporate software industry in a nutshell.
I think it's everybody's favorite movie at some point at our lives. I really felt like Peter at one point in my life when I felt unappreciated at work and this movie did it for me 👍
- I think it was how calm he was despite his job being on the line, along with how honest he was about the environment he works in. Their job was to figure out what the work environment was like and determine who is dead weight, who is critical, and who is exceptional. Everyone they would have talked to in that kind of situation would be feeeding them bullshit to try and maintain their position. Him being so honest and upfront, helping them accomplish what they needed to do was actually showcasing a leadership attitude, even if in his honesty he admits that due to the climate of his work he was unmotivated and even demotivated to go out of his way to help and improve the company.
If he is getting the same amount of work done as everyone else but casually admits he's really only working like 15mins then they must realize either A. He is very efficient, or B. everyone else is lying about how much they do
@@nraketh And the other half is removing obstacles and barriers holding your team back. The best PM I ever had the pleasure of working for did a fantastic job mediating the expectations of management and the constantly changing demands of clients. I didn't fully appreciate him until he took a month vacation. Suddenly every day became a crunch day and our lead/best developer had his hands tied up attending impromptu phone conferences and nearly having a nervous breakdown from management breathing down his neck. Good mid-level management is essential for not only helping a company achieve its productivity goals but also looking out for the wellbeing of the employees.
When corporate comes in with an axe They're looking to get rid of the largest pay waste. So when corporate discover that Peter has 8 bosses ... It's really Peter saying "The good chopping ground is over there"
For the first 80% of the clip, the Bobs are in charge, but Peter is comfortable with it. The wry smile and "okay" at 2:01 flips it completely around and now Big P is totally in the driver's seat. Absolutely stellar play lol
I love how flummoxed the Bobs were when peter said he had eight bosses. I think that was the turning point when they realized that Peter might be on to something.
There is a surprising amount of logic to this if you choose to give the Bob's credit. The generous head canon is they were ready to fire him for most of the meeting, but were indulging him because they wanted an insiders perspective and Peter's candidness is a rare opportunity to get that. But when they heard about the 8 bosses, they realized they weren't truly brought in to do their jobs, they were brought in to hide the true inefficiency. They realized the bosses didn't bring them in to maximize efficiency, nor to maximize profits, but to save their massively inefficient jobs and throw the lower jobs under the bus. Through these lens, the Bob's might just be the most honorable men in the movie.
Bob and Bob (deep down on the inside): "Oh my god, he's really doing it. He's doing what we've wanted to do all along but just never had the balls to do it! We must find a way to keep him around so that we may learn the ways of the force!"
The first half of Office Space is one of the greatest satirical movies ever made about the workplace. The rest of the movie is somewhat stagnant but boy do they knock it out of the park in the front half.
They built an excellent satirical world setting in both Idiocracy and Office Space and then didn't seem to know what to do with it to make a full run-time movie. That's ok though because the first 45 minutes of both are timeless.
The Bobs are actually good consultants. They listened to Peter and didn't interrupt him. Best way to understand the status quo in an organisation. This film will help you navigate your career. It's full of useful scenarios.
@@rustythecrown9317 when you find yourself explaining something 4 times per day to different people, it's time to walk away. I did just that. Left a very high-paying job because I spent more time reporting out as to what happened the previous day than actually getting anything done.
I love the whiteboard in the background that has an entire flowchart on "Planning to plan". They tried to come up with the most stereotypically useless corporate time-wasting shit possible and they nailed it.
As a kid, I thought it was so funny and ridiculous how this interview led to a promotion. Now that I have years of experience working in an office space, it seems way more realistic. This level of honest feedback and raw insight from an employee would be so valuable. It makes so much sense that the consultants would perk up for it!
I had a meeting with "the Bobs" about 12 years ago at a crappy job I had. They knew I had a crappy position and you could tell were just happy to have gotten the gig as "consultants" which probably netted them each thousands. They were supposed to help us sell more but it was a lost cause at our specific location and product and no pep talk was gonna fix that, we basically joked around for an hour and I never saw them again.
This scene is more real than many people can possibly imagine. One time I went to a job interview with the same attitude. I thought they were interviewing me because they had to. So I didn't care. I got the job, and there were hundreds of people on the list.
I got fired today at the age of 34. First time in my life that I’ve been fired at a job. Honestly, I feel relieved. I hated the job and my reaction to my firing was just like him. I couldn’t wait to get out.
That was such a perfect representation of corporate life. They offer a promotion to Peter, who openly says he doesn’t care about his job. Yet they fire Samir and Michael, who are two of the companies best and hardest working employees. Perfect.
I did this at a Company that I knew I wasn't going to be at after 3 months. New job was set. Was all packed to move , only thing kept me there was my apartment lease. 3 Months of Freedom at Work after 7 years of 50-65 hour work weeks. At meetings I was throwing out random ideas. Bosses loved it. All the office problems I didn't hold back, told people how cool they were. Told people how much they sucked. Conversations I didn't like? I would just get up and leave. Lunch? Let's roll !! Take an extra hour. Towards the end the actual mood and energy of the company section I was in actually changed. People started laughing and being productive. 3 months were done. I turned in my gear and left. I got emails from everyone asking me if they were hiring. I left and the mood went back to shit again. I've been Free for 7 years now
Having worked in big tech and gone through the layoff round, I now look at this movie more as a mandatory training course that gets people ready for their eventual involuntary exit.....it's also funny as hell and true beyond imagination
That movie was a great representation of corporate America in the late 90’s. Way too many people in middle management, meting after useless meeting, no incentives to strive for excellence. The company I worked at regularly had meetings to prepare for planning meetings, and those planning meetings spawned even more meetings. And they wondered why actual productivity was so low.
I worked as an engineer for 21 years then taught high school for 12. Went back to engineering and recently retired. I told my students that this movie was pretty much an accurate documentary about working at any high-tech company.
I worked in tech for 15 years. My last company i was a Sr. Business Analyst for 11 years. We had two different time systems we had to enter our time into. One day my current projects were wrapping up, the new projects hadnt started yet. I grabbed my boss, told her i was leaving. She wanted to know where i was going. I said i wasnt going anywhere else. I was going to take a year off to figuye it out and id support myself by playing poker - it had been a side income for several years, and the previous month i had made $11K for the month just playing cards at night and on the weekends. 6 years later and i have not reentered the workforce and i dont plan on it. I think it has been a wakeup call for the business world, especially post-pandemic, that more and more people are finding alternative ways to earn a living other than by holding a job. Keep your life expenses low, invest your income instead of spending it, and get out of the workforce as soon as you can. Your level of happiness will go through the roof.
I had this whole script memorized at one point and can still recite it line for line. This scene has so many great moments but I love the way the one bob (dr.cox) says “this is a hypothetical!”
You know I knew a guy just like this. I mean he had zero filter and fear of losing his job. He actually stayed on for a few years and was just brutally honest in kind of the most professional way and he never got in trouble for it. He eventually left to open up a Company with his brother.
The minute he walked in, took a glass, took a pitcher of water, and poured himself a glass of water while ignoring the Bob's he took control of the whole situation.
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"Listen, I'm gonna go..." Peter ends the meeting rather than the Bobs. Total power move.
i fuckin love that!
Sometimes you have to do that in meetings. It's why I'm the Director, and they are not.
The entire meeting was a power move lol
It's not that it's a power move.
It's really just he doesn't care.
the whole thing was one massive power move by Mr.Gibbons
I used to think the Bob's were idiots; now 25 years later I realize that they might be the only characters to fully embrace and understand Peter's genius in the whole movie.
🫡 me too. I saw this in HS. I really get it now.
It’s the first time they are actually getting something honest told to them.
Something that matches the numbers in front of them. And he actually gave them a bunch of different insights on how to ramp up productivity and limit administrative redundancies
"I have eight different bosses, right now."
"Uh, I beg your pardon?"
That said it all for me.
@@HopeisAnger they now have 7 people maybe 8 they know they can lay off without effecting company performance
@@ChimpytheMonkey Like: get seven of these eight bosses fired or initiate a bonus system (which is by now pretty much the standard for many companies).
Homer Simpson said it best, "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in everyday and do it really half-assed. That's the American way."
Don't leave and put them in a bind. Stay and keep them in one.
Preach it brother 😎💨
BEST Quote EVER! 👌
@@matthewerwin4677 I have a friend who was a buck sergeant in my National Guard Unit 30 years ago. He caught a lot of crap because he was honest, and gave as good as he got no matter who was giving. He was thinking about quitting. Another friend told him, “No, don’t leave...that’s what they want you to do. Stay and be a thorn in their side.” He retired not long ago as a Sergeant Major.
“If there’s a task that must be done,
Don’t turn your tail and run,
Don’t pout, don’t sob,
Just do a half-assed job.”
- Shary Bobbins, “Cut Every Corner.”
The reaction to "I have 8 different bosses" is pure gold. That really got the efficiency expert's attention.
Actually rather strange. Normally they would be suggesting more management to raise the efficiency of the workforce. Which, of course, they turn around and do by suggesting Peter for upper management.
Come to think of it, maybe that's why they balked. "What? Only eight? Well, we'll just have to double that..."
It's the "Too many chefs, not enough cooks" conundrum.
or
Banking - 75 vice presidents and two pesky bank tellers....or so I heard.
@@rcslyman8929 No we don't. Not more, better. It's just that, in the end, those managers who knew the plan, who knew what we were trying to achieve, get replaced by people who shouldn't be there. People who do a lot of damage trying to hide the fact they shouldn't be there. Part of the problem is that being a good manager is actually really difficult. There aren't enough suitable people going around, so the ambitious get to have a go instead.
@@AdmiralBison Nah, banking just went online and the vice presidents all go a big redundancy payout and are living in luxury in the Bahamas just before the bank went bankrupt.
He was unafraid to pull the sheets off of the things that made Initech so awful. These guys were interested in stock equity to offer to employees to give them skin in the game and see some real results from their own work. 8 bosses? Sounds like the cuts need to happen a little higher on the totem pole. They had the right ideas once Peter got involved.
I used to hate the Bobs but they were more of a chance for positive change than anybody else like Lumberg.
“Listen I’m gonna go”
Gets me every time
Amazing. He ends the interview lol
Good luck with your layoffs, I hope your firings go really well 😂
Upper management move right there
I know it's beautiful :D
Yeah, lol. Same with "The pleasure's all on this side of the table"
That guy has upper level management written all over him.
Hmmmm yeeahhh I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there....
Pirate Labs legend lmao
I love it when the higher ups get off there asses and try to tell us little people we are doing a shit job lol
@@willyjoel about how much time do you spend dealing with these tps reports?
@@krtlkid Was about to ask him the same thing! Now he is going to watch Overland One play tetris and not give a shit about him....hahah..
I love how he ends the interview.
I ended an interview the other day like this with a few old school executives who just stared at me for an hour, sans the good luck with the firings part
I like how the bobs don't even mention firings.
"Listen I'm gonna go"
So casual about it lol
Done in such a casual confident manner, I don't even think the Bobs fully realized Peter ended the meeting for them. They just kind of naturally thought "That's the end of the meeting, guess our time is up"
LOL. Yea, like he runs it. LOL.
"It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care"
That's been me for as long as I can remember.
Indeed. My lack of motivation is my driving factor in life. Which is kind of sad if you think about it. I
What truly makes people motivated then, money (ie personal benefit)? Or deeper?
@@kavanbrown3149 Mindset. Personality. Outside factors like, yes, money, your lover, shame etc Personally I'm pretty sure I destroyed my rewards center of my brain through my addiction from first year of high school until like age 26-27. Final years of brain development and I was confusing my brain.
My life's motto.
Yep. Same boat.
As someone who has been in management for years, I know it's comedy, but the feedback Peter gave is spot on what you're looking for. He spoke to *everything* why the company is evaluating layoffs: lack of company motivation, no recognition of hard work, top-heavy management looking to show they have value by cracking whips for tiny mistakes, etc. The irony is that someone who is aware of the issues and can communicate them clearly and calmly *is* potential management material, if not the dreaded consultant. But the rest of the interviewees were probably stuttering over why they should be kept, bitching about the company, and super emotional...not the folks you want in a restructure.
As this came from Mike Judge, who later created Silicon Valley, I think it's amazing how in tune he is with dark comedy of how businesses run.
Good points. Im a consultant myself, the interesting problem I have is that I do a combo of interim staffing, and as needed work. Some clients want me to come and do the work permanently, and I say hell no due to the exact systemic problems you mentioned. So my question too, is one of the problems that can emerge in a company like this, is that many managers never worked their way up in the line of work they are expected to manage? Ive been at places that were totally dumpsterfires cause the managers didn't know what the actual job entailed, and only questioned folks on why things weren't working, they basically went to school, graduated, and were on a fast track, they didn't drag their knuckles.
I lived and worked in Silicon Valley for 14 years; from 1996 until 2010.
What is interesting is that type of problematic company organization and corporate structure is really a product of those times. Companies nowadays are far more efficient and many have 360 reviews of managers and constant surveys of employees to ensure people are well motivated and productive. It's to say companies like that don't still exist. But many would go out of business as tech workers are still a sought after commodity and it is in the best interest of the company to keep them happy.
With that being said, in the late 90s, I got to see a lot of what is depicted here firsthand. One of the big issues in Silicon Valley at that time was the fact that middle managers often came from other sectors or backgrounds. Because Dot Com caused such a massive increase in companies and demand for workers, there just weren't enough skilled, technical managers to fill the gaps. So I had scenarios where I was a programmer and my manager had a background in something entirely non-tech. And they were utterly clueless. Made for some interesting times when it comes to giving them estimates on how long it took to get work done. I coined something I used to call 'Scotty Speak' (named after Scotty from Star Trek) where I would just run off some tech sounding zibberish to the manager and let him/her know it would take several days to do what they asked of me. When in fact, it would only take several hours. ;-)
@@Diomedes01 I had the inverse experience working in tech, also in San Jose. Boss would give me a task, ask me how long it would take. I’d say one hour, knowing it would really only take 10 minutes. He would then tell me that I have three hours, because that’s how long it would take HIM to do it, and he thought I was being cavalier with my estimates. So 10 minutes of work and 2 hours and 50 of just dorking around online. Well not exactly, right around 2 hours and 10 I’d turn in the work and catch praise for being so quick. This went on for 7 years. Good times.
@@Diomedes01”Scotty speech.”
You brilliant (insert appropriate word here).
Now we have new kinds of inefficiencies. Where I work I have like 10 different usernames and pwd's for all sorts of things, including things that have zero security implications if they were just left unprotected, but since the tech exists we must use it on any and every device that draws electricity. Each of those usernames and pwd's periodically have to be updated, but at different intervals, so every week i'm having to make at least one new one, which I can't do until a 2nd person w/their own higher level username and pwd brings up the screen to allow me to do so. And if he's not around, then I can't do my work until he is so I can make a new pwd and get into the needed device.
Then there's outsourcing. As an example: our own mechanics used to be in charge of changing light bulbs if lights burned out. Now we outsource it to a 3rd party. Not that we replaced the mechanics, they are still around, they just don't do lights anymore, even though we have plenty of lights on site if any are needed and no one needs any expertise or certification to perform the changing of a light. They aren't special sci-fi lights or anything just normal lights to make a space brighter. They work just like the lights in your home. Its been decided that outsourcing must be good, so that's what we do where its contractually allowed, but randomly and w/no rhyme or reason or perceivable benefit in either time or cost. Same employee count as before the change, plus now the added cost of the 3rd party as well, actually increasing costs lol. Maybe the 3rd party who got the gig is a company owned by someone's favorite nephew or something. Anyhow, what once took a mention to a mechanic and 5 minutes of work to replace a dead light, now involves about a dozen people, phone calls, emails, frustrations, phone tag, interactions between 2 organizations, and an interminably long wait before anything gets done. And if you get exasperated and just change the light yourself you get yelled at. Then we'll have meetings saying its unsafe to work in poorly lit areas, ran by the same people who would be the ones to yell at you if you didn't follow procedure and just changed the light yourself, lol. The bobs would have no shortage at all of fun things to look at where I work.
I like how the Bob's perk up when they hear that Peter has 8 different bosses. Peter gave them a gem when he explained that to them.
8 really isn't that many. Manager and assistant manager. Regional and/or district manager, with potentially the board of directors. Then you have a department head and ones for the other departments and technically they outrank you and can give you tasks to complete.
@kyleellis1825 I agree but its bizarre that so many members of Upper management would be taking time out their day to call Peter about something that only his line manager and project manager would need to remind him about once.
You'd only commit this much time if it was recurring and needed corrective actions.
Those bosses have nothing better to do if they're chasing up on a cover sheet being forgotten.
Just trying to pad their timesheets or show to their own bosses they're "improving" procedures.
@@kyleellis1825I’m fairly certain that by “8 different bosses” they mean 8 different managers/people he reports to. The whole point of the Bobs is that they were brought in to cut down on inefficiencies which is why they perked up. Because that would be grossly inefficient. Whereas with a hierarchy, while technically being a boss of everyone below them, isn’t someone you’d really call your “boss” as a grunt
No, it was definitly set up as pointles redundancies as you say. Just pointing out hat 8 bosses alone isn't necessarily a bad thing.@@will_from_pa
@@kyleellis1825 But it's 8 bosses that didn't notice how little actual work Peter does at the office. If 8 bosses shows up to hassle him about tiny mistakes but none of them ever noticed how little work he does, chances are at least some of those bosses aren't doing their work of supervising the employees.
The only guy who wants to get fired is promoted.
True dat
That's how it should be
Angsuman Bhattacharyya Honestly.... Probably.
@@Bangla_te_Shob That's how it is these days
No joke, that happened to my friend at a casino that he worked at. To skip the politics of Native American Tribal elections, let's just say they were doing their rounds of firing people because of the elections and cash flow and crap, my friends saw his friends get fired and he knew he was on the chopping block. So he he worked half ass that week and just knew he was getting fired and at the end of the day, he was called into the office. This moment, he knew he was fired and instead, they gave him raise.
Having multiple Bobs run the redundancy cull is one of my favorite gags from the movie
It’s quite genius actually.
Efficiency for thee but not for....uh....us.
I never picked up on that detail! Genius!!
The Bobs were a genius addition to this movie.
'Out on a limb' had "the Jims", 2 brothers named Jim. One was named after their dad and the other was named after their grandpa. They were very dumb.
Jamming to classical music:"you sure you got the right station? This don't sound like Iron Maiden."
"It's live concert, it always sounds different live." This is the first movie I ever saw John C. Reilly in.
@@txgunguy2766 this is Darrell, and my other brother Darrell
@@txgunguy2766 The TV show Shoresey has 3 Jim's. They get bulked together as one character.
In major league back to the minors they had 2 Juan Lopez’s
I like how Peter approaches life with his newfound attitude. Where others entering this situation would likely be worried about getting the ax, he cheerfully greets the Bobs. He pours himself a glass of water as if he were in his own kitchen and proceeds to shoot the shit with them like they're old friends. Boss behavior.
Only works in movies, lol
@@SelectiveApathy82 Yeah, unfortunately.
@@Caitanyadasa108 However, the 8 bosses thing would have quickly gotten the attention of any "efficiency expert". They would appreciate and respect him having the balls to tell them that. But acting overly flippant, coming in in jeans and rumpled flannel, saying "I'm gonna go", that would never fly.
It's usually more about how much people like you than competence. This movie nails it
not really, One dumb psychopath Bengali American (new sheriff in management) who tried to cut my pay by $15 per hour. He tried to twist my wrist in a meeting and said you will be out of the project (not mentioned fired) if I don't agree to his demands.
I responded calmly, "alright. when's the last date? today or some other day". The moron just stood up and said I'll let you know and then went out of the room mumbling. I was there for another 11 months, which I shouldn't have.
Anyone can do this when that person decides not to take any more abuse and is ready to walk out.
I left that toxic boss when my contract was over (after 11 months later). It was one of the good decisions I made.
I work in IT at a very large company with multiple buildings chocked full of cube farms. This movie is based in reality far more than a lot of people would ever imagine.
Oh so true. I work for govt. This could be a reality TV show.
I work in publicist we all get our own floor and elevator. Never seen these farms before.
The same elements apply to nearly every job I've had.
I'm from Europe. When I want to the states on business my first point of call was to see the 'cube farms', as we work in open plan offices, with massive windows. They didn't disappoint. It was baffling to see people in adjacent cubes talking to each other on the phone ;)
oh wow man youre the first person ive ever seen or heard say that... its almost like Mike Judge filmed the movie with that in mind. lol fucking idiot.
It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't care.
Snake Plissken My feelings about school.
@@lukelichtenthal5407 My feelings about life
fail
Luke Lichtenthal hey. I think 🤔 we are siblings😉😉😉😊😊😊🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩
Corporate America beats the give a shit right out of you
Office Space never ever gets old!
You're goddamn right
Honestly, it's more current for me today than it was back then! Just a masterpiece through and through.
@Mark Johnson For you.
Best and most realistic movie about working!
truly a timeless movie
It's the eight bosses thing that got to them. Their job is to make the company more efficient, and unless your department has like a thousand people what the hell does it need eight bosses for?
I think that they are just so taken aback that someone for once told them the truth. Everyone else embellishes to make themselves seem more valuable. Human nature is to value rarity and Peter is the most rare thing they’ve ever seen in this corporate world. Honest and forthcoming.
I think you think too much and it's just a movie and a comedy at that.. created by Mike Judge, who is known for his factual comedies like Beavis and butthead and king of the hill.
Administration is a cancer that eventually grows to the point where it starts replacing healthy tissue in important organs until the organism is destroyed.
@@ralphythegeneral Have you never heard of interpreting works of fiction so that you can learn from it? There's entire high school and university courses based on it, there called English classes.
Clearly, it's for managing the sheer talent of one stapler obsessed super man named Milton.
1:35 I love Bobs reaction here to Peter asking "So where's the motivation?", it feels like a genuine reaction of "Yeah, I guess you're right, there is no motivation to do more work if you don't get anything for it"
Side note, those two guys in the background are walking around in a circle... I wonder how much of their day they spend doing that.
I never noticed that about the two guys going in circles until today! Thanks!
It is something you notice a lot when you are doing office scenes in TV shows. You have about 10 extras whose only task is to look busy in the back ground. I use to chuckle because nobody walks that much in a office setting. There are practically no paper files. And it is just people chugging data into PCs, BSing with co-workers, or talking on phones. Yet in the TV shows and movies, it is always people walking back and forth.
@@superdave8248 Hollywood writers are usually disconnected with current reality and especially in order movies like this one, but that used to be pretty common. Even when computers were introduced to the office and documents could be sent electronically, lots of business practices still revolved around bringing files to various departments in person and/or you had people walking around checking on people. Today, some businesses still use paper files for things and it's often due to industry regulations (EX: the financial industry still has to maintain paper copies of some things).
@@superdave8248 What do you mean no one walks that much in an office setting? We regularly have walking meetings. And when you do that, you can easily lap by the same conference room multiple times. It's better than sitting all day.
This movie should have gotten an Oscar for costume design. My dad was a big boss at an office like this when I was a kid in the early 90’s (he’s a hell of a lot cooler than the folks in this movie lol). I’d have to go to work with him on school breaks, snow days, half days…all that. I can still smell the French vanilla coffee smell that lingered in the break room. Let me tell you they NAILED the look of these office workers. The short sleeve collared shirts, shitty ties, even the bad haircuts. This movie is a masterpiece. One of my all time favs.
I've worked in the software industry since the '80s and they really captured the feel of the office. Also, the supporting characters are perfect...every one reminds me of someone I've worked with.
Then again, 90's fashion was specifically about being sloppy, as a reaction against 80's perfectionism.
@@ryanjacobson2508 Was it though? I mostly recall everything being 'X-TREEEEEEMEEEEE' and everyone expressing themselves in the most over-the-top fashion, including what they wore. I thought it was ridiculous but I never knew how bad things would get. I miss the 90s..... I wasn't old enough during the 80s but I enjoyed the 90s.
I like how the bobs were genuinely interested in peter's story
It’s not often you get the strait skinny from someone. He wasn’t trying to save his job, he just didn’t care anymore.
Which was Peter?
I just love how he addresses the two Bobs in the singular: Bob. It is both effective and efficient; the typical characteristics of someone in upper level management.
no, actually addresses each of them individually
@@davehasenford3985 yup, he says Bob twice
@@davehasenford3985 you must be young
NOT! 😁
anything more than that is already too much work
"Hi Bob. Bob."
That cracks me up every time.
Bob’s lean back at 1:50 was the turning point of the movie. Power dynamic flipped with Bob trying to match Peter’s body language.
John C McGinley is just terrific. Every time.
Amazing actor. He's great in everything I've seen him in.
My favorite quote from him on a late night interview was him explaining whenever he worked with an unprepared scene partner...
Every item they would mess up he would let them try until the fifth take, then he would lean in and say "Every time you mess up, they're just going to use my coverage, so keep it up."
He’s never done poorly in any role
He can do any part you give him.
He was awesome in Ground Floor !
I love how he says good luck with your layoffs. I hope your firings go really well. Capture the corporate double speak perfectly. This isn’t the only gem in this scene obviously.
lol the white board says planning to plan
Thomas Tague omg I’ve seen this movie a million times & never noticed that before 😄
This movie is Art.
Milton already has his plan. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
You need to plan strategically after all! lol
"it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care" Story of my life.
That was me in high school.
@@jerrykinnin7941that's the definition of lazy
Sounds like Dudeism to me..
Dude abides 🎳✌️
The Bob's getting honest feedback made them really happy. Finally something that they can use to improve production. As usual, it was a problem with upper management.
Can you imagine what life is like for the two Bobs? Every single day, and practically every single employee is just people trying to pull the wool over their eyes. People trying to make themselves and their jobs sound 100% essential. And the Bobs have to not only figure out who are the good employees but what is actually happening in a firm, and what is holding that firm back. Then along comes Peter and not only is he brutally honest about what he does himself, but he's talking about bosses, pointless reports, and god knows what else. He straight up did the Bobs jobs for them, and they know they can trust him considering he's even being honest about himself. "The pleasures all on this side of the table" just fantastic
I do this for a living. You are 100% right
@@DrEhrfurchtgebietendwhat's your job title? I'm in marketing and would love to do analysis like this
@@xXRustyShacklefordXx Principal consultant. Apply at McKinsey, BCG or Bain.
I have been told that management consultants really enjoy their work. They get to find the lazy and useless and send them packing.
@@scandalouspanda7489but in the real world there is a need for such a system to detect and filter out the bad apples. And if you worked anywhere and any time you fast learn there is always some - on various positions
That's just a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.
HAHA.
Whoooooo......yeeeeah. Ummm, I'm gonna have to go ahead and sort of......DISAGREE with you there? Yeeeeah.
@@SelectiveApathy82 That would be great
First watched this movie when I was 14. I am 35 now and work in tech for a megacorp and every aspect of this film is 100% spot on and accurate to this day. The multiple/redundant managers hassling you about the same thing especially hits close to home. 🤣😭
John C McGinley is one of THE best actors around - and has been for a couple of decades. What he did on Scrubs was some of the best and most underrated comedy work ever done.
Yes. His portrayal of Dr Cox was spot on. What could have been a one-dimensional a-hole of a character was very nuanced. We kept getting to see more and more of his vulnerabilities yet he never turned into some soft, nancy boy. He's been great in everything.
Agree-best wise ass character ever to be on tv.
Help me to help You....Help me to help you....Help me to help you Barbie.
@@mikejohnson9118 love that scene!!
Every sentence in this little snippet is 100% factual even now, 23 years after this movie came out 😂😂
Classic scene from this movie. I always notice the white board in the background when he walks in with the chart on it captioned 'PLANNING TO PLAN'. When you see that in an office you know you need to spend the rest of the day (besides the 15 minutes you're actually working) looking for a new job.
I stole a banner from a place of business with an Initech-type name that was titled BOLD STEPS. I planned the heist and returned home to my roommate who had been fired from that place a week before.
One tech company I worked for had a "Pre" meeting. To make sure everyone was using the correct Tech-Speak for the "Real" meeting. Made the manager look very professional. Which wasted at least a half hour and the meeting which wasted another hour. EVERYDAY.
They eventually failed and closed the place. $150M down the drain.
Reminds me of a post where someone talked about walking past a meeting room with a white board that just had profit, circled and underlined, written on it. The three occupants were yelling at each other
I remember when managers worked their way up. That particular insight is invaluable to accommodating employees. However today high performing workers are given that line about being too valuable at their current position.
My observation has been most toxic employers would rather endure the setback inherent to the loss of an employee who fills a vital function than give that employee any kind of power. It appears to be a worthwhile trade off to them to lose your.productivity, so long as they can still intimidate the person who fills your place, even if they do it badly.
@Tyler Durden congrats on being in breach of contract and it getting your last month's pay
@@Cowcow211 not in an at will state. You can leave it anytime with no notice. They can let you go at anytime with no notice
@@yossarius That depends on the job, if a company is big enough, there is no way a single person is the one running the hole show, so even if you do your job exceptionally, you are where you are (In every company I had work on, I ask for lateral promotions, so the boss knows that I am not after him and I just want more money for more efficient work) or if you are in a small company, if you are good you can easily outgrow your current value and what the company even can pay you, so they are also prepared to let you go... and toxic employers are not toxic to every employee, they know what workers they can attack.
Worse, they are passed over for promotion because, and I quote, "You have a wealth of technical skills that Dewayne lacks, so we can't backfill your position with Dewayne so it makes more sense from an organizational standpoint to put Dewayne in a management position that is more people rather than technical oriented, while also promoting diversity among management." Mike was a SUPER skilled network engineer who knew all systems inside and out, and Dewayne was pretty much useless, but because he was a black male and all L5 staff at that point were white or jewish males they felt they needed diversity. Mike quit that day when they basically told him he would never advance because he was too smart and too white. I told him to pretend to be homosexual at his next job so he can at least tick one diversity box, lol! BTW, Dewayne proved so incompetent, they replaced him after 5 weeks, but only with an equally incompetent even MORE diverse manager who was Mexican gender-queer (dressed as a man) lesbian woman, so she ticked off all the boxes. She lasted for 9 months before the entire department was outsourced to a IT company to work as contractors.
That's why this movie is so brilliant. Because everybody that works in Corporate America knows almost all of this is actually true! What a fake world we live in.
(Truman Show quote) "Was nothing real?"
So they hired all these people and then ended up with a bunch of people they don't need. How does this happen?
This movie is 100% spot on!! Genius script!
@@JR-bj3uf A lot of companies will over staff when they are doing well to expand rapidly, but eventually things taper off and maybe even drop a bit as the market becomes saturated. Investors, especially, scrutinize over every little fluctuation in profit and overreact, and in turn the company over-corrects to keep the board of investors happy. Mass hires and layoffs, are the easiest ways to boost profits and cut costs in the short term. In their eyes, the workforce is expendable. There is a saying in business, "The ad for your replacement will be posted faster than your obituary."
@@meltedplasticarmyguy There is truth in your statement but I have been wondering, in a time of shrinking populations and fewer trained and motivated individuals is this management model even sustainable?
@@JR-bj3uf I would say no. The world has changed. There is no incentive to be "skilled" anymore. No more drive to be better. I work in construction, and for the past 27 years there have been fewer and fewer quality apprentices. All the "old timers" are retiring (being forced out) and no one is replacing them except for inexperienced people who think they know better. We have moved to a society that thinks having a college degree is a "be all, end all". Here in the next few months, I will be running a multi-million dollar project that will have a few hundred workers working at the same time, all without a degree, I worked my ass off to get where I am. People need to realize that "getting rich quick" never works. You need to crawl before you can run. Be able to accept criticism, and be hungry to learn. Managers needs to elevate potential and cut loose any anchors. Not everyone can be a doctor, a lawyer, or an astronaut, but that's ok.
I love the whiteboard in the background with "Planning To Plan" and the idiotically complicated chart. That's the corporate software industry in a nutshell.
This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I can watch it over and over.
Same here
Me too
Me too
I think it's everybody's favorite movie at some point at our lives. I really felt like Peter at one point in my life when I felt unappreciated at work and this movie did it for me 👍
Funny how his spacing out all day and only doing 15 minutes of real work is perfect for upper level management hahahaha
Half of being a good manager is knowing when to shut up and get out of your teams way!
No, him being a hypnotizes pathological truth teller being direct honest and to the point makes him qualified for upper level management.
- I think it was how calm he was despite his job being on the line, along with how honest he was about the environment he works in. Their job was to figure out what the work environment was like and determine who is dead weight, who is critical, and who is exceptional. Everyone they would have talked to in that kind of situation would be feeeding them bullshit to try and maintain their position. Him being so honest and upfront, helping them accomplish what they needed to do was actually showcasing a leadership attitude, even if in his honesty he admits that due to the climate of his work he was unmotivated and even demotivated to go out of his way to help and improve the company.
If he is getting the same amount of work done as everyone else but casually admits he's really only working like 15mins then they must realize either A. He is very efficient, or B. everyone else is lying about how much they do
@@nraketh And the other half is removing obstacles and barriers holding your team back. The best PM I ever had the pleasure of working for did a fantastic job mediating the expectations of management and the constantly changing demands of clients. I didn't fully appreciate him until he took a month vacation. Suddenly every day became a crunch day and our lead/best developer had his hands tied up attending impromptu phone conferences and nearly having a nervous breakdown from management breathing down his neck. Good mid-level management is essential for not only helping a company achieve its productivity goals but also looking out for the wellbeing of the employees.
When corporate comes in with an axe
They're looking to get rid of the largest pay waste.
So when corporate discover that Peter has 8 bosses ...
It's really Peter saying "The good chopping ground is over there"
Haha my older brother who has been pretty high up in a couple companies calls those jobs the ejection seat lol.
For the first 80% of the clip, the Bobs are in charge, but Peter is comfortable with it.
The wry smile and "okay" at 2:01 flips it completely around and now Big P is totally in the driver's seat. Absolutely stellar play lol
"Quiet quitting" described perfectly 23 years ago.
The way Bob says it's hypothatical is so damn funny
It's the whole reason I came back to watch this clip.
Not as funny as the way you spell it!
Peter must have celebrated Michael Bolton's entire catalog.
That no talent ads clown
My wife, after 38 years in her company, missed a meeting. This was brought to her attention. Her reply was epic.
Oh, I wouldn’t say I missed it.
Yassss..that's awesome 👌
Your wife a freaking boss!
A lot of people quit their job, but never leave the company.
"Don't....don't...care?" love that stutter thought
I love how flummoxed the Bobs were when peter said he had eight bosses. I think that was the turning point when they realized that Peter might be on to something.
There is a surprising amount of logic to this if you choose to give the Bob's credit.
The generous head canon is they were ready to fire him for most of the meeting, but were indulging him because they wanted an insiders perspective and Peter's candidness is a rare opportunity to get that.
But when they heard about the 8 bosses, they realized they weren't truly brought in to do their jobs, they were brought in to hide the true inefficiency. They realized the bosses didn't bring them in to maximize efficiency, nor to maximize profits, but to save their massively inefficient jobs and throw the lower jobs under the bus.
Through these lens, the Bob's might just be the most honorable men in the movie.
Peter’s face when he says “okay…” and leans back gets me every single time lol
Him ending the meeting they called him in for is priceless.
Bob and Bob (deep down on the inside): "Oh my god, he's really doing it. He's doing what we've wanted to do all along but just never had the balls to do it! We must find a way to keep him around so that we may learn the ways of the force!"
A well timed “I beg your pardon” is always gold
a funny scene but also so true in many ways. that is exactly how many peaople fill today in a lot of working places.
Because of this movie I quitted today from the office job I couldn't stand anymore. Loved it!
I quit my office job today because of this movie.
So you both just said, "I don't think I'm gonna go anymore." Good to know! LOLOLOL
😂
Jesús Acosta: And got a job as an English teacher? :)
Another BRILLIANT piece of work from Mike Judge.
When he was walking out the admiration for that guy was palpable from the two Bobs, almost to the point of envy!
After that I just sorta space out for about an hour EEHGEEHG space out?
xD
Yeah! I just stare at my desk; but it looks like im working...
I do that for another hour after lunch too
😂😂😂😂
I did that for 3 years at my job and got promoted 4x. 😏
Gotta love jobs that don't require a lot of effort 😎
The first half of Office Space is one of the greatest satirical movies ever made about the workplace. The rest of the movie is somewhat stagnant but boy do they knock it out of the park in the front half.
Kinda like Full Metal Jacket
Okay glad I'm not the only one who thought that. It's pretty much downhill after this scene.
Agreed. Same can be said for Idiocracy - brilliant satire in the first half, and half-baked second half.
They built an excellent satirical world setting in both Idiocracy and Office Space and then didn't seem to know what to do with it to make a full run-time movie. That's ok though because the first 45 minutes of both are timeless.
No the whole movie is great.
"Believe me, and this is a hypothetical" Love it.
The Bobs are actually good consultants. They listened to Peter and didn't interrupt him. Best way to understand the status quo in an organisation. This film will help you navigate your career. It's full of useful scenarios.
In all situations , the problems can be alleviated by getting rid of the managers. They're the ones making life hell for everyone else.
@@rustythecrown9317 when you find yourself explaining something 4 times per day to different people, it's time to walk away. I did just that. Left a very high-paying job because I spent more time reporting out as to what happened the previous day than actually getting anything done.
I love the whiteboard in the background that has an entire flowchart on "Planning to plan". They tried to come up with the most stereotypically useless corporate time-wasting shit possible and they nailed it.
30 years later and still extremely accurate. Plus, I just noticed the “planning to plan” on the wall in the background
One of the most underrated films ever made. Particularly if you work in tech 😁
YOU GOT THOSE TPS REPORTS?
It's amazing how accurate this movie is.
Yep, it's actually gotten worse now.
I love the part at :48 seconds -"ehehehehgh uh, space out?" and the look on the Bobs faces as they glance at each other. HAHA
As a kid, I thought it was so funny and ridiculous how this interview led to a promotion. Now that I have years of experience working in an office space, it seems way more realistic. This level of honest feedback and raw insight from an employee would be so valuable. It makes so much sense that the consultants would perk up for it!
I had a meeting with "the Bobs" about 12 years ago at a crappy job I had. They knew I had a crappy position and you could tell were just happy to have gotten the gig as "consultants" which probably netted them each thousands. They were supposed to help us sell more but it was a lost cause at our specific location and product and no pep talk was gonna fix that, we basically joked around for an hour and I never saw them again.
Peter's nonchalant, shit-eating self-satisfaction at 2:02-2:04 is a brilliant piece of acting and directing. I laugh myself dizzy every time.
Attitude and confidence can go a long way.
This movie was way ahead of its time
I watch this movie a couple times a year. Love it. It captures corporate America perfectly , or at least my experience.
Damn this scene aged so well.
This scene is more real than many people can possibly imagine. One time I went to a job interview with the same attitude. I thought they were interviewing me because they had to. So I didn't care. I got the job, and there were hundreds of people on the list.
I got fired today at the age of 34. First time in my life that I’ve been fired at a job. Honestly, I feel relieved. I hated the job and my reaction to my firing was just like him. I couldn’t wait to get out.
I embrace my “Peter Gibbons” every day I work.
I never noticed the white board in the background which reads, “PLANNING TO PLAN”😊
Bobs were so happy meeting this guy 😂
That was such a perfect representation of corporate life. They offer a promotion to Peter, who openly says he doesn’t care about his job. Yet they fire Samir and Michael, who are two of the companies best and hardest working employees. Perfect.
This will never get old as long as there are corporations that people have to show up and deal with all the BS
Most intelligent business management consultant
Kudos to the creators for bringing a smile to my face with this delightful chain reaction.
Something else about this: even for all his frankness, Peter is the one person we see who treats the Bobs with sincerity and friendliness.
Classic film and how realism and satire are interwoven perfectly..brilliant comedy.
He was able to automate his work from 40 hours to 15 minutes. That’s pretty amazing actually.
Before working in corporate IT, this was a funny movie... After nearly a decade in it, this is almost PTSD inducing
Yep, and it's actually gotten worse now. I miss early 2000s corporate life now, as masochistic as that might sound now, lol.
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
I did this at a Company that I knew I wasn't going to be at after 3 months.
New job was set. Was all packed to move , only thing kept me there was my apartment lease.
3 Months of Freedom at Work after 7 years of 50-65 hour work weeks.
At meetings I was throwing out random ideas. Bosses loved it.
All the office problems I didn't hold back, told people how cool they were. Told people how much they sucked.
Conversations I didn't like? I would just get up and leave.
Lunch? Let's roll !! Take an extra hour.
Towards the end the actual mood and energy of the company section I was in actually changed. People started laughing and being productive.
3 months were done. I turned in my gear and left.
I got emails from everyone asking me if they were hiring. I left and the mood went back to shit again.
I've been Free for 7 years now
Having worked in big tech and gone through the layoff round, I now look at this movie more as a mandatory training course that gets people ready for their eventual involuntary exit.....it's also funny as hell and true beyond imagination
It's one of many reasons why you should every two years you move on to some place new.
That movie was a great representation of corporate America in the late 90’s. Way too many people in middle management, meting after useless meeting, no incentives to strive for excellence. The company I worked at regularly had meetings to prepare for planning meetings, and those planning meetings spawned even more meetings. And they wondered why actual productivity was so low.
I worked as an engineer for 21 years then taught high school for 12. Went back to engineering and recently retired. I told my students that this movie was pretty much an accurate documentary about working at any high-tech company.
people foget Mike Judge has a degree and worked in silicon valley
I worked in tech for 15 years. My last company i was a Sr. Business Analyst for 11 years. We had two different time systems we had to enter our time into.
One day my current projects were wrapping up, the new projects hadnt started yet. I grabbed my boss, told her i was leaving. She wanted to know where i was going. I said i wasnt going anywhere else. I was going to take a year off to figuye it out and id support myself by playing poker - it had been a side income for several years, and the previous month i had made $11K for the month just playing cards at night and on the weekends.
6 years later and i have not reentered the workforce and i dont plan on it. I think it has been a wakeup call for the business world, especially post-pandemic, that more and more people are finding alternative ways to earn a living other than by holding a job.
Keep your life expenses low, invest your income instead of spending it, and get out of the workforce as soon as you can. Your level of happiness will go through the roof.
1:36 Management bombshell
The reason ambition dies at work.
Most honest scene in the history of cinema
I had this whole script memorized at one point and can still recite it line for line. This scene has so many great moments but I love the way the one bob (dr.cox) says “this is a hypothetical!”
“It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I just don’t care”. Can’t count how many times I’ve quoted that
the 15 mins of real work line really rings true
You know I knew a guy just like this. I mean he had zero filter and fear of losing his job. He actually stayed on for a few years and was just brutally honest in kind of the most professional way and he never got in trouble for it.
He eventually left to open up a Company with his brother.
"the pleasure was all on this side of the table." LOL!!!
The minute he walked in, took a glass, took a pitcher of water, and poured himself a glass of water while ignoring the Bob's he took control of the whole situation.