Dilbert cartoon first published on Sunday 13th September 1998

Dilbert//3438, first published 28 years ago on Sunday 13th September 1998

Tags

annual inspirational talk work hard competition feel afraid quality of lives too afraid management incompetetnce

Official transcript

The Boss stands in casual clothes and says, "It's time for my annual inspirational talk."

The Boss says, "We must work twice as hard, or the competition will crush us!"

Dilbert, Wally and Alice sit in front of the Boss as he continues, "I want you to feel afraid twenty-four hours a day."

Dilbert raises his hand and says, "Question: wouldn't hat lower the quality of our lives?"

Wally says, "Seems like it might."

Wally continues, "I'm too afraid to work here now. I wonder if our competitor's are hiring?"

Alice raises her hand and asks, "Question: should we continue to be afraid of our own management's incompetence?"

The Boss replies, "Let's compromise. I'll agree to cut the meeting short if you'll all agree to feel worse in some way."

The Boss leaves the meeting and thinks, "No I remember why I only inspire them once a year."

originally published on dilbert.com

Open source transcript

IT'S TIME FOR MY ANNUAL INSPIRATIONAL TALK!

WE MUST WORK TWICE AS HARD, OR THE COMPETITION WILL CRUSH US!

I WANT YOU TO FEEL AFRAID TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY!

QUESTION: WOULDN'T THAT LOWER THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES?

SEEMS LIKE IT MIGHT I'M TOO AFRAID TO WORK HERE NOW. I WONDER IF OUR COMPETITORS ARE HIRING.

QUESTION: SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO BE AFRAID OF OUR OWN MANAGEMENT'S INCOMPETENCE?

LET'S COMPROMISE.

I'LL CUT THE MEETING SHORT IF YOU'LL ALL AGREE TO FEEL WORSE IN SOME WAY.

NOW I REMEMBER WHY I ONLY INSPIRE THEM ONCE A YEAR

collated from github.com/jvarn/dilbert-archive

AI Analysis

Title: "Annual Inspirational Talk"

Summary:

The comic strip depicts a company's annual inspirational talk, where the CEO emphasizes the importance of hard work and competition. However, the employees are skeptical and unimpressed, with one employee questioning the relevance of the talk to their daily lives. The CEO responds by cutting the meeting short and encouraging the employees to feel worse about themselves, highlighting the disconnect between the company's values and the employees' experiences. The strip pokes fun at the clichés of corporate culture and the disconnect between management's ideals and the reality of the workforce.

generated by llama-3.2-11b-vision-instruct

Accompanying textual content, such as title, tags and transcripts, is shown here if we have it. Not every comic has all of these, and they seem to be a bit hit and miss even on the official website.