Laughing All the Way to the Bank - Essay Example

One may be compelled to advance Adams education by getting an MBA. However, the reality and frustration soon set in when even after achieving higher credentials, no promotion is forthcoming. To this end, Adams came to the reality that it was not always guaranteed that the highly qualified and best-suited candidate for a job gets a promotion. In addition, hard work done by one employee is normally accorded to another less deserving employee. Moreover, based on his comic strip on Dilbert, Adams presents the view that only the ‘bright but clueless’ individuals are hired.

Consequently, employees are promoted on the basis of low competence rather than merit. From Adam’s viewpoint, in addition to his economics degree, he had gone a step further to achieve an MBA. All of his extra efforts were centered on the belief that he would achieve promotion. However, after realizing that no promotion was forthcoming, and a stagnated career, Scott Adams was compelled to quit his job. It is quite evident that Scott Adams was frustrated with the corporate world. This was after realizing that job promotion and high academic qualifications are not always intrinsically linked.

Consequently, Scott Adams opted to go fulltime into his entrepreneurial job as a cartoonist following its initial popularity and potential to flourish. What sources of information and expertise did Adams use in starting and developing his business? Did the start-up of the Dilbert cartoon follow the typical pattern of entrepreneurial start-ups? Why or why not? The concept of Scott Adams cartoon strip, ‘Dilbert’ was initially inspired through his personal experiences as an employee in the bank.

To this end, Scott Adams cites that he used Dilbert to channel the frustration, absurdity, and stress of working life that he experienced in the corporate world of America. In the onset of ‘Dilbert’s’ prominence, Scott Adams changed tact in the sourcing of information for Dilbert’s development. To this end, Adams sought customer opinion by attaching his email address to every cartoon strip. The purpose for attaching his email address was to draw in suggestions and comments that would develop the Dilbert comic strip further.

Consequently, Adams would receive between 350 and 800 feedback messages daily. The start-up of the Dilbert cartoon did not follow the typical pattern of entrepreneurial start-ups. Foremost, Adams started off his cartoon strip while still working at Pacific Bell. To this end, his method of startup contravened the classical model norm that usually calls for total commitment and resource allocation for a startup. Moreover, owing to the fact that Scott Adams started off his cartoon strip while still working, he incurred a few risks.

To this end, the majority of classical entrepreneurial start-ups involve the incurring a high extent of risk. For example, if the risk of failure in the enterprise comes to pass, the entrepreneur in most cases has no fallback plan. To this end, he/she risks not only losing investments made but also an optional resource pool. However, in Scott Adams case, if he failed in his cartoon strip, he had an immediate fallback plan within his job security. This is in recognition that Adams had not yet quit his job while starting up Dilbert.

Adams claims that his success is due primarily to luck and persistence; do you agree or disagree? Do you think his advice is helpful to potential entrepreneurs? Why or why not?