History Main / PointyHairedBoss

->'''Pointy-haired boss:''' I saw the code for your computer program yesterday. It looked easy. It's just a bunch of typing. And half of the words were spelled wrong. And don't get me started on your overuse of colons.\\
'''Dilbert:''' They remind me of you, sir.
-->-- ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''

Someone promoted by ThePeterPrinciple has been promoted way beyond his level of competency. He or she may have had a clue at some point, but has since swum out of his/her depth. The Pointy-Haired Boss, however, is the result of TheDilbertPrinciple, through which only the most incompetent and irrational workers are KickedUpstairs, where they can no longer disturb the productive flow (theoretically).

IncompetenceInc is a likely place to find [=PHBs=]. Occasionally is surrounded by ''very'' competent workers when ConservationOfCompetence is in effect.

Very often such a boss is portrayed as not only incompetent, but also a little [[BadBoss evil]]: The kind of guy who would steal credit from his employees and pin failure on them. In these cases he can be ''more'' contemptible than the CorruptCorporateExecutive whom he serves; while the CorruptCorporateExecutive sold his soul for money, power and fame, an evil Pointy-Haired Boss [[EvilIsPetty sold his soul for nothing]] but a job little better than that of his employees, and doesn't seem bothered by it. On other occasions, they may have been competent and serious about their job at one point or another, but a combination of having to deal with a bunch of angry employees with (frequently unfounded) axes to grind and higher-ups who were around only to micromanage to hell and back and act as nuisances eventually drove them to stop giving a fuck altogether and be just barely competent enough to not attract the ire of the upper management.

* The bosses of ''TheOffice'' are exemplars of two different kinds of PHB. Michael Scott of the American version is a classic illustration of ThePeterPrinciple: he was (and is) a genuinely superb salesman, but was promoted to the post of Regional Manager -- a job he is absolutely unqualified for. Though he could be guilty of being an Evil Boss at times, his employees were generally competent and sometimes backed him when it was important enough. His evil tendencies faded over time, but his general inability to manage remained. His UK counterpart, David Brent, evidently never had any skills to begin with, making his promotion an enigma... or an illustration of the Dilbert Principle (see below), wherein the incompetent are quickly KickedUpstairs to a position where they will do less harm to the productive parts of the organization.\\\

Although it's not made as clear as in the American series, in the final episode of the British series it is suggested that Brent actually ''is'' a pretty good salesman, but is definitely not management material or as talented as he thinks he is. As for the enigma, WordOfGod responded to criticisms that Brent would never reach a management position with a retort that a brief look around any kind of corporate-style organization ([[BitingTheHandHumor including]] TheBBC) would reveal that major positions were being filled by people who were even ''worse'' than Brent.

->'''[[TropeNamer Pointy-haired boss]]:''' I saw the code for your computer program yesterday. It looked easy. It's just a bunch of typing. And half of the words were spelled wrong. And don't get me started on your overuse of colons.\\
'''Dilbert:''' [[StealthInsult They remind me of you, sir]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbqC7nHDEOU Damn You, Recession]] from ''Those Aren't Muskets''. It features a boss who uses the recession and cutting down company costs as an excuse to indulge in his own unusual {{fetish}}es. The employees don't see how his ideas would work and call him out on it.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbqC7nHDEOU Damn You, Recession]] from ''Those Aren't Muskets''. It features a boss who uses the recession and cutting down company costs as an excuse to indulge in his own unusual {{fetish}}es. The employees don't see how his ideas would work and call out on it.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbqC7nHDEOU Damn You, Recession]] from ''Those Aren't Muskets''. It features a boss who uses the recession and cutting down company costs as an excuse to indulge in his own unusual {{fetish}}es. The employees doesn't see how his ideas would work and call out on it.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbqC7nHDEOU Damn You, Recession]] from ''Those Aren't Muskets''. It features a boss who uses the recession and cutting down company costs as an excuse to indulge in his own unusual {{fetish}}es.

** For those of you wondering what the problem was. the plot of sawgrass was the air plant: it filtered and scrubbed the air simply by being sawgrass.

* The vacuous, hero-worshiping, management speak spouting Gus in ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey''. He would appear to be a living, breathing example of the Adams principle.

* The Television version of ''Stuff You Should Know'' features Steve, a rare female example. She keeps order in the office by fostering paranoia among the other staff, and switches show priorities based on her daily whims and complete misreading of social trends. She's somewhat of a more effective manager than others on the list, but that could be because the rest of the office is just as crazy as she is.

* Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG has Elite Agent French Fries, who made several incredibly poor choices that had disastrous consequences. Of note are his decision to expose the previously top secret campaign in Antarctica (at first seeming like a good idea, only to accidentally cause massive riots and escalate the already mounting tension between the idealist and realist sides of the team into a whole new level of violence). Later on he attempted to perform a court martial against George and Rotor with conflicting charges, implement a "brilliant" idea that involved everyone walking very slowly toward a horde of mutant dinosaurs, and finally got beaten up by several different people for his trouble.

* The "TabletopGame/{{BrikWars}}" rulebook 2005 and 2010 has a picture of a pointy haired minifig holding a piston to illustate half-minds. Curiously, The he was illustrating the ''cleverer'' mind, the other minifig was holding the pistol to his face.

* Mullet Boss from BasicInstructions fits this trope to a T

* Heavily lampshaded with Randy Marsh in the WesternAnimation/SouthPark episode, "A Nightmare on Facetime".
* Lucius Heinus VII from JimmyTwoShoes combines this with the ManChild and CardCarryingVillain tropes.
* Malory ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''s boss/mom who's mind tends to fly on missions, and sometimes becomes an emotional wreck.

* This is how Major Norton was portrayed in Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''DavyCrockett'' mini-series, though he may have just seemed this way against [[{{Badass}} Davy]].

Though not unheard of, this trope [[IThoughtItMeant has nothing to do with actual]] [[ShonenHair pointy-haired]] [[ThatOneBoss bosses]].

** ''Discworld/NightWatch'' gives us two examples in the past version of the title organization. The first is Captain Tilden, a decent enough man who was a competent military leader, but is woefully unqualified to run a police organization. The (largely [[CorruptCop corrupt]]) Watch runs rings around him. Later on he is replaced with the future Lord Rust, a GeneralFailure who is a far more dangerous sort of stupid. Vimes winds up laying him out with a single punch and effectively taking command himself (which he was arguably doing anyway under Tilden).

* Mr. Wilter from ''WesterAnimation/ChalkZone'' is a teacher of a SuckySchool, but he's [[TooDumbToLive that stupid to teach a school]].

* In ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'', much of the senior staff at Grace Brothers could fit this category. Mr. Rumbold is the most blatant example, but a recurring theme is that ''everyone'' in a position of authority at the store is incompetent; Captain Peacock is a blowhard, Mrs. Slocombe is far too self-absorbed to be much help to anything [[DoubleEntendre except for her pussy]], Mr. Grainger is worn-out and well past the point when he should have retired, and Young Mr. Grace is virtually senile. Only [[TheBarnum Mr Humphries]] can handle additional responsibilities while escaping mostly unscathed.

** Carlson's mother put him in charge of her station specifically so it would lose money and be used as a tax write-off for her corporation. When the new program director changed the format and the station started to make money, she wanted him fired.

The opposite of the ThePeterPrinciple. Someone promoted by ThePeterPrinciple has been promoted way beyond his level of competency. He or she may have had a clue at some point, but has since then misplaced it.

This person, however, is the result of TheDilbertPrinciple, through which only the most incompetent and irrational workers are KickedUpstairs, where they can no longer disturb the productive flow (theoretically).

* Lt. [=LaGuerta=] in ''{{Dexter}}'' got her job on talent for political maneuvering, and is in way over her professional head, showing no apparent ability as a detective. Her behavior toward subordinates could also qualify as harassment in some cases (such as her nowhere-near-subtle sexual overtures toward Dexter). This was introduced in the TV adaptation as well, but was gradually dropped over the first season and disappeared completely by the middle of the second, along with her infatuation with Dexter.

* Lieutenant Brass comes off very much as an incompetent and biased boss in the first episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'', but it may just be that his promotion put him in over his head -- when he is demoted to Homicide in the second episode, he becomes every bit the equal to the crime lab folks in professional competence. His demotion to a position of competence is actually a ''violation'' of ThePeterPrinciple; something that is even more rare in real life than it is in fictional entertainment.

* Pops from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' is this. He's the boss at the park, but he's incompetent, childish, clueless, and very naive. However, unlike most examples of this trope, he's a BenevolentBoss. He's an incredibly sweet man, and always has a kind word for everyone. Everyone at the park really likes him, even though he's an oddball.
* Heavly lampshaded with Randy Marsh in the WesternAnimation/SouthPark episode, "A Nightmare on Facetime".

* Mr. Perkins, the evil head of the Bank of Evil ([[TakeThat formerly Lehman Bros]].) in ''DespicableMe'' certainly [[ShoutOut looks like]] the original (or [[WeaponBrown the unrated version of him]]) but he's actually scarily competent.