Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Breakroom! I know that I left you all on a pretty solemn note last week; we are still reeling with the direction of our country but I hope everyone is doing a bit better each day as we come to terms with our future. Feeling slightly more optimistic this week, I am much more willing to see the posts about facing those challenges head on and fighting for our rights. And to help us get back to a bit of normalcy, I am very excited to provide a Breakdown this week, catching us up with what has been happening in the office.
Just a side mention but the other day, Toby in HR actually showed up with girlfriend. This seems innocent enough, except he then proceeded to say goodbye to her with a kiss that was certainly too much for a workplace setting. All of this coming after he sent around a reminder of the company’s PDA policy; I’m sure I am not the only one who sees that Toby has a pretty obvious crush on Pam, right? Apparently I am, but there are pattern’s to his behavior.
On to the main event of the day and that is Michael still trying to prove that older sales practices are the best ones. In order to prove this, he is banking on “the original instant message” which is baskets with food in them. He has collected some of the best snacks and foods that Scranton has to offer and is going to hand deliver these to clients who have dropped them as their supplier and see if they will come back. This really is not a bad idea, as their company’s entire strategy that has set them apart is the level of customer service that they can offer. I think where the flaw comes from is that they are specifically going for clients that have left them recently. I say this because the economy has been struggling so all companies are looking for areas that they can make certain cuts and allow them to save money going forward. When someone drops you for reasons like that, they cannot really be won over with a basket of food and would instead need incentives that can directly benefit their company. I would argue the use of the food could have been better spent on prospective clients in a way of trying to woo them over to Dunder Mifflin. Additionally, I know that they are a paper company but they do also sell some office supplies so I feel a greater push should be on the fact that they can fill all of those various office needs. Again, this was a pretty solid idea, but could have been polished up a bit.
Michael’s plan was that everyone would rally behind him and go off in teams to work on reclaiming these clients, but alas no one else was on board. That is, except Dwight who seems to be on a mission to prove something himself. The rumor is that the girl he was dating, whomever she is, recently broke up with him so I think he wants to impress her. While hesitant, I think Michael realizes it would make more sense to have another set of hands with this project. And with that, they were off with all of the baskets themselves in an effort to prove something to themselves, and the rest of the branch.
While they are off trying to save the company, back here at the office things are just getting a little odd, and they are all centered on Ryan’s return. Turns out, Kelly had revealed to him that she was pregnant and insisted he take her out to dinner to discuss the situation. It was then that she revealed to him she made the whole thing up as some sort of romantic gesture, but Ryan didn’t quite it see it that way. He is bringing his on level of annoyance in that he attempts to brag to everyone about how different his life is now that he has moved to New York City. He goes out at night, runs into celebrities, and even paid $200 for his haircut. Kevin and Andy seemed pretty impressed with all of this, though not all of us were. Especially because when someone would try to agree with him, he pointed out that they don’t truly get what it is like.
For a moment it seemed like Ryan had gotten over himself because he approached Pam and actually asked if she would want to attempt to design the logo for Dunder Mifflin Infinity. I do not have to tell you how big of a deal this was for Pam. She has been seeking some way to use her love of art in work, and if she could design the logo for this website then the entire world could see her work and she is instantly established. And to be asked to design the logo is a huge honor because a brand’s logo is often synonymous with their identity. When it comes to our memory, I feel vision often is more triggering than hearing. We hear the word “apple” and we would most likely think of the fruit; but to show the Apple logo, we instantly will go to the brand and their devices. And that is what a logo should be, something that just by being seen will tie the viewer to the brand itself. And some of the best logos are often the simplest; it is not meant to make you overthink but to be inspired or drawn in. By no means should a company cut corners when it comes to designing and choosing a logo because it a decision you must live with1. Unfortunately, when Ryan comes back later to look at Pam’s ideas, his true intentions are revealed when he invites her out to dinner. Evidently Ryan thought it would be okay to flex his new authority and try dating Pam; but he got to feel embarrassed when Pam revealed that she and Jim are together. I felt he seemed incredibly surprised at this when really, I didn’t think it was that shocking given how close they’ve always been. For the record, if you are in a position of authority you should simply not ask out your staff, especially with how Ryan tried to. He he used a a fake pretense, and then tried to urge her with the “it’s just dinner” line like a sketchy guy would. Do not cave in to these types!
You are pry wondering how Michael and Dwight did with their mission; the answer, not great. People certainly accepted the baskets, although they were very confused why they were being gifted baskets from a company they no longer go through. No one confirmed to coming back, although a couple said they would consider it once the new website was operational and it was more fiscally beneficial. The real drama occurred when Michael drove his car into a lake, and yes you did read that right. Michael was following instructions from his GPS when he was told to “turn right.” The next right took him right into a lake, which he chose to do since that is what the GPS told him to do. For the record, he was by no means the first person to do this and many of these systems do have warnings in place to explain what just because the system tells you to drive into a body of water, does not mean you should. At first he was upset and angry, but in true Michael fashion he was able to turn this into a win. In his mind, technology and the future means that people will be driven into lakes so this simply proves that innovation for the sake of change, is not a good thing.
And that is how the day concluded, winning due to failure.
And that was what happened here at the office! Perhaps not a lot but I think we learned a thing or two about conducting business. If nothing else, you did learn that you should not drive into a lake, even if your GPS is asking you to. Now be prepared for a special coffee break next week, where I might try to help you recreate Michael Scott’s gift basket.
Until then, have a great weekend and I’ll see you around the Breakroom!
- Westgarth, A. (2018, November 30). The Importance Of Having The Right Logo. Forbes. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/councils/theyec/2018/11/30/the-importance-of-having-the-right-logo/ ↩︎
