The cult classic, Office Space, was released in 1999. Back then, I was early in my professional IT career. I was living the hilarity that I saw on the screen. Even though we’ve come so far as an industry and profession, there’s still so much truth that rings through today.

Last week, I covered the leadership lessons from the Bobs. If you missed that, go back and read it, then continue on here. This week, I am focusing on the protagonist of the story, Peter Gibbons.

15 Minutes of Actual Work

Peter Gibbons is an unmotivated, micro-managed, young technology professional. He is extremely stressed about work, so much so, that he cannot be productive. He spends most of his time procrastinating and avoiding work.

While Peter’s experience is hyperbolized, there is so much that is relatable. 20 years ago, I was a young technology professional. While overall, I had a much better experience than Peter, there were plenty of “Office Space moments” that marked my journey.

I distinctly remember long stretches of unproductive time at work. I spent time waiting for other people. I spent time in irrelevant meetings. I went off on smoke breaks with my co-workers even though I didn’t smoke. I wrote an article about all of the productive things I did with my idle time, but I wasted plenty too. I had my own versions of TPS reports with cover sheets to fill out and fax in.

I spent more than 15 minutes of the day doing “actual work” which I found to be very meaningful, but it wasn’t always enough to offset the tedium.

I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be.

After an odd encounter with a hypnotherapist, Peter snapped into a state of total relaxation. His stress vanished and he started living and working the way he wanted to. He blew off weekend work for fishing, dressed down, asked his dream girl out, and gave his cubicle a window view.

Peter flipped from one extreme to the other. He was pushed to the brink and rebelled against the system. His boldness was admirable but still lacked any purpose or meaning. It was just pure rebellion.

Bob: Looks like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately.

Peter: Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I’ve been missing it, Bob

When Peter had his fateful meeting with the Bobs, it went completely differently than it did for Tom. In his total state of relaxation and fearlessness, Peter explained the world exactly how he saw it, without any spin or hiding.

Peter’s extreme candidness was rewarded. The Bobs recognized Peter as a “straight-shooter with upper management written all over him.” They eventually promoted him and laid off his friends.

Initech is a company where everyone is a cog in a machine. Management is incompetent and the employees are afraid. In an environment like that, candid communication sounds like earth-shattering innovation.

I’ve always been pretty comfortable speaking my mind. I share what I think is going well. I also share freely what I find to be dysfunctional. This has earned me a reputation for being a candid communicator. Early in my career, it earned me the trust of the top executives.

My Office Space Moment

Similar to Peter, I was given opportunities while I simultaneously watched opportunities taken away from my friends.

About 14 years ago, I was given a special project. I had to write and execute an elegant and robust piece of automation to facilitate a mass layoff. Our standard IT processes were too manual and time-consuming to offboard 250 people with standard tickets. I was trusted as someone that could handle the need-to-know information and the technical work.

I instantaneously disabled network access, two-factor authentication tokens, building access, and wiped the BlackBerrys of 250 co-workers while security guards ushered them out of the building. How’s that for job satisfaction?

I don’t know why I can’t just go to work and be happy, like I’m supposed to… like everybody else.

Shortly after that, I was promoted again, and given leadership responsibility. Shortly after that, I remember pulling into the parking lot at work and just sitting in my car, not wanting to walk into the office building. At that moment, I knew I needed to leave, or I would go crazy on an Office Space scale. I left that company shortly thereafter.

Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements.

Office Space does a nice job of highlighting the problem with work, but it does little to offer any helpful solutions. Tom got a settlement. Milton burned the building down. Samir and Michael left Initech for Initrode. Peter left software engineering to join Lawrence in construction.

These aren’t solutions to the problem. The solution is leadership. I will cover that in next week’s article on Bill Lumbergh, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I do want to summarize the lessons that can be learned from Peter Gibbons:

1. If you have unrest in your job, never settle. Like Peter, figure it out. Wrestle with it. Work is too important to drone on as a cog in a machine. This is your life. This is your career. Do something about it. Hopefully, you’ll find a more productive resolution than Peter did, but nevertheless, struggle on until you do.
2. Relax. Stress stole Peter’s joy. Find whatever recharges your batteries, relieves your stress, and resets your equilibrium. You can’t be wound so tight if you want to do your best work. If you give a malfunctioning printer the power to ruin your day, then you really need to lighten up. Let the small stuff slide.
3. Communicate candidly. It works. Honest insight shared openly is oxygen for an organization. It builds trust and earns credibility. It might even get you promoted. Don’t tell people what you think they want to hear. That comes from a place of fear and manipulation and doesn’t work.

Those are my leadership lessons from Peter Gibbons. Be sure to check out my next article, where we explore the leadership genius of the one and only Bill Lumbergh.

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