The Office: Season 2, Episode 4 “The Fire”

Good morning and welcome back to the Breakroom, celebrating our new location on Friday’s. I hope you have had a great week, we were able to make it all the way today so let us jump right into dishing about the goings on here in the office.

The morning has actually been pretty uneventful, except there was this weird incident with Pam and Jim. Evidently Katie, the purse girl Jim started seeing, called him through the main line and Pam seemed a touch odd when she realized it was her. Pam did remind Jim that he could just give her his extension. I personally do find it odd when people would give out main line numbers like that for personal calls; just give out your cell phone or perhaps think of your extension right away because you are at a place of work.

That whole scenario aside, I noticed that Ryan was in Michael’s office for a good while. Evidently, it is time for a review that Michael must complete for the temp agency that Ryan works for. That’s right, he is still being hired through a temp agency rather than being made a formal employee. I’m not entirely sure how this works since such positions usually do not last long but I guess corporate feels it is more cost effective to continue to have a temp on board rather than hire him on full time. That being said, if they were so motivated on cutting costs I would start with evaluating how many temp positions they currently have on the books. But I doubt Michael would like that because he believes Ryan is doing a phenomenal job and is quite honest about. Dwight isn’t very happy, however, as he hasn’t had his work evaluated in years. These sorts of evaluations are awkward in which you trying to ascertain an employee’s goals and “five year plans.” There are those who truly know where they want to be in five years. Ryan intends to finish his master’s program to receive and MBA and then start up his own company. There was a time where a degree in business was a ticket to almost anything you want but I can advise that so many people have taken that route that it truly does come down to your experience and unique credentials which are need to place you ahead of the competition. There is certainly nothing wrong with having a long-term plan, but I have learned that with often things can change that it is important to not be beat down if something doesn’t work out the way you want right away. Can’t seem to find the job you want despite getting that fancy degree? Figure out ways to paid your resume; look for a unique license/certification you can get, teach yourself some programs, or even start a business blog.

Thankfully, if you have ever had any interest in business you should reach out to Michael because is just a fountain of information. If you had to compare his teaching styles, he would be a mix of Mr. Miyagi and Yoda and he even has his own 10 Rules of Business, these being:
1. You need to play to win, but you also have to win to play
2. Adapt, react, readapt, apt
3. Reach for the stars, if you fail see rule 4
4. Failure is not an option
5. Image is everything
6. Safety first

If you were to seek out “10 Rules of Business” online or from an educator, I feel like you would receive quite a few different options, so what are some of the best? According Isabel Isidro via Power Home Biz, the 10 Rules for Small Business Success¹ are:
1. Find a niche
2. Be small, yet think big
3. Differentiate your products
4. The first impression counts
5. Good Reputation
6. Constant improvement
7. Listen to your customers
8. Plan for success
9. Be innovative
10. Work smart

Additionally, Peter Jones (of BBC’s Dragon’s Den) has his own 10 Golden Rules² to build a successful business, being;
1. Have a vision
2. Use your influence
3. Build your confidence
4. Make a commitment
5. Aim for results
6. Timing
7. Perseverance
8. Be caring
9. Take action
10. Use your intuition

All in all, the day was pretty straightforward for the most part. Michael was Michael, Dwight was looking for attention from him, Ryan was fighting off attention from him, and the rest of the office trucked along. That is, at least, until the fire alarms of the building suddenly started going. Well Dwight and Angela went right into safety mode, Angela is actual fire and safety leader but Dwight certainly likes to think it is his responsibility. While Angela gave us advise like arms at our sides and to grab our safety partner, Dwight prefers to motivate everyone by shouting orders before he then “attempts” to put out the fire. It is very important to be aware of what the procedures are in the event of a fire for your office and/or building depending on where you are at. You should know the proper exits, and typically there is someone who oversees the process as they can direct people, take a head count, etcetera. Additionally, while public buildings do have fire extinguishers for use in such events they are only to be used if you know how to use them. If you do not know the proper means of using one, it is best to simply evacuate the building and leave it to the professionals. There may be the question on “women and children first” but if you ask Michael, you do not need to worry about that in the work place. Besides the fact that children wouldn’t be found in the work place, you wouldn’t want to treat women differently because the are meant to be equal in the workplace by law. Now this isn’t the first time that I have been through a situation where we had to evacuate and while it doesn’t appear the building isn’t on fire, you’re expected to simply occupy yourself and wait for however long it takes.

Now Dwight, Michael, Ryan continued to talk amongst themselves about business and I guess nicknames? Ryan mentioned how he is doing his best to not be noticed because he is worried about being a “something” guy. Sort of like how Stanley is the crossword guy or Angela is the cat lady; I think we all are aware that when you are noticed you tend to be listed as something. Myself, I have most often been the “gay guy” at most places, although obviously no one ever referred to me as this. Or for a few years I was the “vest guy” because I always wore vests to work, that I was okay with since vests are so cool. But to Ryan it means that you are destined to work there forever, that it ties you down.

Well while this was all happening, we thankfully had Jim taking charge of everyone else by running some games to keep us entertained including Desert Island, Who Would You Do, and Would You Rather? I feel these games are pretty self-explanatory but I can certainly explain the rules. Desert Island is a game in which you are given so many options of movies or books that you can bring. Such as, you are stuck on a deserted island what are the three books you would bring with you, or perhaps the five movies. Who Would You Do is essentially who in the office (or other set parameter of individuals) would you rather do? And Would You Rather is you must choose out of a set of scenarios that you would rather partake in, i.e. would you rather shave all your hair or have to dye it green? Silly games to pass the time and yet, can actually be quite revealing at the end of day so they’re pretty nifty as ice breakers.

In contrast, I could hear that the guys were talking business questions like why have people been rethinking the Microsoft business model? It doesn’t seem like Michael knew what the answer was, unfortunately. There are a couple of means to answer this, but primarily Microsoft has always created it’s product which is then sold for a set price to customers. Eventually they come up with an updated version in a few years with some new tools and then again, customers can purchase this when they are ready. But they have transitioned more to a subscription model where rather than needing to purchase each new model, they receive the updates as they are released as part of their package deal. Topics aside, they certainly seem to be winding each other up with Michael feeling like has so much lost potential while Dwight seems so jealous of the attention he is getting from Michael and I think Ryan is just feeling awkward.

Well, tensions reached their limits right after Who Would You Do because Dwight ran inside the evacuated building to find Michael’s phone as a means to impress him. Michael had started to get a bit worried he finally came running out and he had the details on the whole fire situation. Turns out, Ryan burnt his cheese pita in the toaster oven; besides giving us some outside time, this news definitely reset the status quo. Ryan went back to being the inept temp (aka, Fire Guy) while Michael and Dwight were buddies again, including giving a rounding rendition of “Ryan started the fire.”

And that was essentially the highlights of our day so all-in-all cannot complain. We delved into some psychological questions with Desert Island, we got most of Michaels ten rules of business, and we got a semi-successful fire drill under out belts. But let’s not stop! Feel free to comment below with your Desert Island Top 5 Movies to keep the games going and see we all compare to everyone. Until next time, I’ll see you around the breakroom!