The Office artwork for The Office
By: Ben Dalziel
Tags: Illustration, Management, Art, The Office

The Office is leaving Netflix at the end of the year. Salt in the wound of 2020. I’ve been watching and re-watching over the years, and with every go-through, new themes and observations emerge. More recently, this has been influenced by my becoming a manager.

In Michael Scott, I no longer see a tragic, incompetent, irritating oaf. I see someone trying their best, and no matter whether his efforts go astray or are misguided, there is a resilience and optimism that I’ve come to admire. Judgement softens as you walk in someones shoes.

This is no accident. Ricky Gervais suggested to the the cast of the US office that Michael had to have redeeming qualities; he had to be more like-able than his English counterpart. The redemption arc of Michael — beautiful and compelling art in itself — is not what we’re here for though. Quite the opposite!

Michael vs. Toby Flenderson

Mouthed: “I’ll kill you…”

Michael’s relationship with Toby is awful. The malice and contempt on display throughout the show makes for uncomfortable (but delicious) viewing. It reaches its climax in the Season 4 finale, Goodbye Toby, where Michael is upbeat about his nemesis leaving Dunder Mifflin for good.

In the moment where Toby opens his leaving present (a rock with a post-it note reading “Suck on this!”), Michael’s triumphant final jab is deflated by Pam and Holly baring witness to this appalling act. This robs him of the payoff he’s been building towards, and underscores the futility of the feud. So much time, effort, angst dedicated to fueling a clash with another human.

Deflated: “Okay, you know what that is? You know what that is? That is… a psyche. Psyche. So, that is not my real gift to Toby.”

It takes two to tango. Toby fails to meaningfully confront this disfunction. He channels his discontent into a long talked-about escape to Costa Rica, but is doing nothing to improve the quality of his day-to-day in Scranton.

Aside: that Costa Rica ends with a zip-line accident… *chefs kiss* — such a perfect metaphor for the unrealistic expectations of escape fantasies as over-simplified solutions to circumstantial problems. He ends right back in Scranton mid way through Season 5 😅.

He represents the victim of circumstance, unkindly singled out and hard done to, who does little to break out of the dynamic he’s found himself in (Michael’s beef is rooted in his lack of authority over Toby, and how Toby, necessarily tries to curtail some of Michael’s less thought-through ideas, as perfectly illustrated by the Immunity portion of the Business Ethics meeting).

There are parts of Toby and Michael in all of us.

The print

I didn’t get a great reception when I suggested hanging this at home. Realizing I was fighting a losing battle, I refocused my efforts on the Mac Miller print…

So it’s going up at the Slytrunk office!

I know Michael would put up a picture he likes without consulting the rest of the office first.

“It is a source of beauty.”

I’m looking forward to being reminded of Toby and Michael, and the beautiful portrayal of their challenging dynamic. I’m looking forward to no longer noticing it, and then being reminded of it when clients visit and look confused. It’s silly, fun, and provocative. It’s also a mini-reminder of the futility of putting energy into things that aren’t serving you, and a nudge to break out of challenging circumstances.

Important stuff for the workplace!