HN

The Gervais Principle, or the Office According to "The Office" (ribbonfarm.com)

3d ago by janandonly 59 points 11 comments

alecco 1h ago

(2009)

Previous discussions: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

k__ 3m ago

I liked that model a lot, but it made me a bit sad too.

All my life I was bad at being a loser, somehow I never really felt I fit in. I thought this was because of psychopathic tendencies or something. However, after reading this I realized there was another option and I was just clueless.

bananaflag 57m ago

See the Scott Alexander review:

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-the-gervais-pri...

orthoxerox 9m ago

Scott took it too literally. See also how the broader rationalist community took issue with Sam Kriss for inventing a not-obviously-fake historical figure.

The biggest takeaway for me is that you shouldn't expect to succeed as a manager by meeting (or exceeding) KPIs. It's about as effective as being a "nice guy" and expecting intimacy in return.

The KPIs are there for assigning blame, not for identifying key personnel. You can game them to increase your compensation if you are already doing something that an even bigger manager finds useful and important. Conversely, you can get away with half-assing every official performance indicator as long as you keep delivering the real thing.

gsf_emergency_7 46m ago

Liked this comment:

"we could convince a Sociopath that we were all Losers, we might be able to entice them into spilling their secrets as 'Straighttalk'. (Arguably that's what this book is..)"

Rao much more optimistic than Orwell, who declared doublespeak the lingua franca?

ma2kx 1h ago

The MacLeod Life Cycle reminds me on the 5 seasons of the illuminati calendar:

Verwirrung Season of Chaos January 1-March 14

Zweitracht Season of Discord March 15-May 26

Unordnung Season of Confusion May 27-August 7

Beamtenherrschaft Season of Bureaucracy August 8-October 19

Grummet Season of Aftermath October 20-December 31

From the book Illuminatus!

bookhimdano 43m ago

This is interesting enough, I’d buy a book about this (audiobook at least).

I’ve tried to limit myself to only the best and most practical books about leadership that didn’t start corporate speak, and I doubt Gervais Principle would be quoted or used in work conversation, so it’s perfect.

llimllib 36m ago

You’re in luck, he sells it as a book: https://www.amazon.com/Gervais-Principle-Complete-Office-Rib...

p0bs 1h ago

Focusing only on the second and top layer of the diagram, I usually call them “the increments and the excrements”.

yedidmh 1h ago

Anyone else can't scroll on this site?

prox 1h ago

That was a fun read, and it might even explain why a lot of Gen-z is opting out of any sort of career building, wanting values instead (or next to) a paycheck. They saw their parents do The Office in real life.

Interesting is also that Michael does make a really good arc from season one to when he leaves. He remains clueless, or rather he it dawns on him he does not want to become like Ryan or David (the articles sociopath). Like he says in a later season “Business is about people.”