Name: The Office: Why Michael Scott is Actually the World's Best Boss
Uploaded: 2018-08-29T06:07:35.000Z
Duration: 17 min 23 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The starting premise of The Office
is that Michael Scott

Adverbs of degree

He's incompetent, inappropriate,
and downright offensive,

with the attention span of a toddler
and a feeble grasp on reality.

Yet, shockingly, Michael's tactics
produce consistently strong returns

for the Scranton branch of
Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

“Utica, Albany, all the other branches
are struggling...

but your branch is
reporting strong numbers.

Look, you're not our
most traditional guy,

but clearly something
you are doing...is right.”

Michael doesn't even actually
know the secret to his success.

Don't ever, for any reason,
do anything, to anyone,

So we're going to try to evaluate
Michael's work performance for him.

in spite of everything that appears
so wrong about him?

“Sometimes you have to just
be the boss of dancing.”

Before we go on,
we want to talk a little bit

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“If a baby were president,
there would be no taxes,

There would be no... government,
and... things could get terrible.”

Being a boss is peak adulting -
you're basically parenting

But The Office shows us what happens
if your boss is an overgrown kid.

“Babies are drawn to me,
and I think it's because they see me

There are three things especially
that align Michael with a kid:

and 3) his urgent desire
for love and approval.

A lot of office time gets taken up
by Michael's childlike need for play.

“Sittin' in my office with
a plate of grilled bacon.

Call my man Dwight
just to see what was shakin'.”

For him, every meeting is a performance,
and he wants it to be

a life-changing experience
for his audience.

“People expect a lot
from these meetings.

Laughter, sudden twists,
surprise endings.”

Michael also has unconscious creativity
in his use of language,

But I'm, I'm…
just a little stitious.”

“Tell him to call me
ASAP as possible.”

“Occasionally I'll hit somebody with my
car.

And Michael's use of language
becomes a mirror of him as a person --

everything he says is wrong,
yet something strangely

right and delightful emerges
from the creativity of his error.

But sometimes, the ends justify the mean.”

The common perception around The Office
is that Michael's playful antics

Holly later discusses the corporate term
for this kind of behavior

“It's called time theft,
and it's the same as taking money

but the show implies that the release
we get from playing and goofing around,

taking breaks from the drudgery,
may actually be good for

We've all been to boring meetings
that might benefit from a little

His emphasis on creativity represents
an important realignment of values

Because you're mental
if you don't have a good time.”

As much as the employees
love to complain about Michael

“Michael, you are the reason I drink.”

“What I hate about you,
you really suck as a boss.”

the two times he actually leaves,
the office is suddenly

It's not great, but it's something to
watch.

And when it's over you're like,
how much time is left on this flight?”

Toby's words capture what is
so special about Michael's presence --

he creates an open, fun atmosphere
that understands the magic power

But the child Michael has an almost
pathological lack of impulse control.

His totally unfiltered, uninhibited nature

“Sometimes I'll start a sentence
and I don't even know where it's going.”

means his team frequently has to babysit him.

“Yeah, and when Michael
gets a broken heart,

So we're just trying to
get out in front of this.”

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The Office: Why Michael Scott is Actually the World's Best Boss

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