"Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results"
About this Quote
Scott Adams’ line lands because it dresses up a grim office truth as a civic virtue: we love the mythology of “data-driven” choices, but the workflow still runs on hunches and alibis. “Informed decision-making” is the corporate benediction you say before a meeting; Adams punctures it by tracing its “long tradition” back to the oldest human management technology: guess, miss, deflect.
The joke hinges on the bait-and-switch of “informed.” He frames incompetence as heritage, a lineage so established it can be mistaken for process. That’s Dilbert-era satire in miniature: systems don’t fail accidentally; they’re engineered to preserve status, distribute risk upward, and dump consequences sideways. “Blaming others” isn’t just pettiness here, it’s the invisible operating system of hierarchy. If nobody owns the outcome, the organization can keep moving without ever learning.
The subtext is harsher than the punchline. It suggests that institutions often prefer the appearance of rationality to the discomfort of accountability. “Inadequate results” implies the failure is baked in, predictable enough that the blame game is already part of the plan. Adams also slips in a cynical theory of how jargon works: it sanitizes uncertainty. We don’t admit we’re guessing; we build a ritual around it, then act shocked when reality refuses to cooperate.
Context matters: as a cartoonist chronicling cubicles, Adams is writing from the front lines of managerial theater, where decisions are made under time pressure, imperfect info, and political incentives. The quote isn’t anti-intelligence; it’s anti-pretense.
The joke hinges on the bait-and-switch of “informed.” He frames incompetence as heritage, a lineage so established it can be mistaken for process. That’s Dilbert-era satire in miniature: systems don’t fail accidentally; they’re engineered to preserve status, distribute risk upward, and dump consequences sideways. “Blaming others” isn’t just pettiness here, it’s the invisible operating system of hierarchy. If nobody owns the outcome, the organization can keep moving without ever learning.
The subtext is harsher than the punchline. It suggests that institutions often prefer the appearance of rationality to the discomfort of accountability. “Inadequate results” implies the failure is baked in, predictable enough that the blame game is already part of the plan. Adams also slips in a cynical theory of how jargon works: it sanitizes uncertainty. We don’t admit we’re guessing; we build a ritual around it, then act shocked when reality refuses to cooperate.
Context matters: as a cartoonist chronicling cubicles, Adams is writing from the front lines of managerial theater, where decisions are made under time pressure, imperfect info, and political incentives. The quote isn’t anti-intelligence; it’s anti-pretense.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
|---|
More Quotes by Scott
Add to List
