No Motiv is an alternative rock and punk rock band from Oxnard, California … Read Full Bio ↴No Motiv is an alternative rock and punk rock band from Oxnard, California signed to Vagrant Records. As of 2006, No Motiv were the 'oldest' Vagrant band, having been with Vagrant Records longer than any other artist on the Vagrant roster. The current No Motiv line up includes former bassist Roger Camero behind the drum kit. Camero never left the band, but rather moved to the drums when drummer Pat Pedraza left the band to join alternative rock band From Satellite. Their first album, Cynical, was distributed by Edge Records. No Motiv eventually left Edge for unspecified reasons, though a 'falling out' is what is assumed.[citation needed] Their second album Scarred is a collection of unreleased demos and remixes also released by Edge Records. The band is known for rarely, if ever, playing songs from these two albums at their live shows. Friends of the band have also been noted as saying that there are demo tapes that sound better than the quality on Scarred.[citation needed] The band had its greatest success with the 2004 release Daylight Breaking, which reached #36 on Billboard's Top Independent albums chart.During the past two years, No Motiv has played only one live show. It took place on June 11, 2006, at the Livery Theatre in Ventura, CA, as a benefit show for the closing of the venue, as well as a reunion of legendy sadcore band The Whereabouts.

While No Motiv never released an official statement announcing their breakup, the band is considered to be on hiatus and inactive at the present time. Jeremy and Jeff reside in Ventura, CA, and have started recording material under a new band called Monster Hand. Max lives in Oxnard and has been recording material under a solo project called Gentlemen. Roger is enrolled in recording classes at Long Beach City College, resides in Irvine, CA, and is writing songs for school projects and for fun under the name He Fails Me.

All band members remain close friends to this day, and also are involved in many side projects in addition to the ones mentioned above, such as Hybrid Moments, Death Country Blues, and Machines.

Problems
No Motiv Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

1!2!3!4!
I'd like to say that I am well off with my life
but I know that there's always something that's just never right
My life is a pain in the ass I'm strung out and I'm down
just sick of all this shit I've got to leave this fucking
town I've got problems and I've got plenty of them
All this thinking about them brings me down...
I've got problems I've got to leave right now I've got problems

of my own and I don't really care if I leave you here alone...
I've got problems and I've got plenty of them
all this thinking about them brings me down...
I've got problems I've got problems

and if you would care to listen
you are becoming another one of my problems

Overall Meaning

In No Motiv's song "Problems," the lyrics speak to the familiar struggle of feeling dissatisfied with one's life and the desire to escape the problems that accompany it. The opening line states the desire to present a facade of contentment but acknowledges the underlying issue that there is always something wrong. The singer expresses frustration with their current circumstances and desires to leave their town behind, indicating the source of their problems may be rooted in their environment.

The repeated statement "I've got problems" emphasizes the weight of the issues and the singer's inability to escape their negative impact. They describe the act of thinking about their problems as bringing them down, indicating a sense of being consumed by the issues at hand. Despite the desire to leave, the singer confronts the reality that their problems may follow them wherever they go.

Line by Line Meaning

I'd like to say that I am well off with my life
Although I want to tell myself that everything is fine, I know that there are always negative things that bring me down.

but I know that there's always something that's just never right
Despite my attempts to keep a positive outlook, there are consistently issues that arise and disrupt my life.

My life is a pain in the ass I'm strung out and I'm down
My life is a constant source of stress and frustration, leading to fatigue and sadness.

just sick of all this shit I've got to leave this fucking town
I am fed up with all the negativity and I feel the need to change my surroundings in order to make a fresh start.

I've got problems and I've got plenty of them
I am dealing with numerous issues that are causing me distress and leading to negative emotions.

All this thinking about them brings me down...
Reflecting on my problems only worsens my mood and outlook on life.

I've got problems I've got to leave right now I've got problems
I am aware of the necessity to leave my current situation in order to deal with my problems head-on.

of my own and I don't really care if I leave you here alone...
The problems I am facing are personal to me, and I am not concerned with how they will affect others around me if I leave.

and if you would care to listen
If you are willing to listen to my problems, I am open to sharing them with you.

you are becoming another one of my problems
But be aware that by listening, you may become another problem that burdens me.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Craig

4y↑3.2K

"I'd say in a given week I do about 15 minutes of real, actual work"

Me watching at work: "Hmm, interesting"

Breanna Doty

2y↑1

lol ME watching at my WFH job right now lol

banshee b

Additionally 80 % of the results take only 20% of the effort. It's easy to get the ball rolling it's harder to put the ball in the basket.

Audiman

Sounds familiar

Anders Hansen

2y↑1

@Bailey Morton It's a pattern seen everywhere, it even applies to the populations of cities and the sizes of stars. Several completely unrelated fields discovered it and so it has a bunch of different names

Todd Hellyar

3y↑1

@MyFly MkUltra No idea now...
Some movie sound bite sampling website (probably illegal), saved the sounds, applied them in settings...... So long ago, no farking idea now.... But it was piss funny

16 More Replies...

Lieutenant Dude

5y↑3.8K

I love how the moment bob hears 8 bosses, he perks up. There’s the fat that needs trimming.

Malal

Naaah 8 is fine if anything its low, we clearly need to trim the "Fat" by reducing out actual boots on the ground workers, if we get rid of them we can just take the money we would pay them and KEEP that for ourselves :D

spaceflight101

@Prima61 something that you're forgetting is that places like Inotech sprung up for one reason: to rewrite code for Y2K. Once that date passed they did cleanup on the code that got missed and by June, most of the companies were gone.

But, their owners are very, very rich!

TheBandicoot

@George Jempty I know that feeling. I have 4 above me, 4 above them and the GM so 9 bosses.

I need staff on the floor, not at home come 4pm on a Friday

digitalconsciousness

I worked in a big grocery store that had a district manager, store manage, and five different co-managers working there. They would all have things for me to do. Meanwhile, my department had two people working in it, total. When the employee to manager ratio is that lopsided, something's wrong. (was Kroger, btw)

mityaboy

@cjinxed but i would argue that your direct line manager is doing it wrong then. i have 14 people reporting to me, and i have 2.5 bosses (two in straight line and one in an equal role to my line manager) - they had the tendency to jump over my head and put work on my staff. … so i picked my fight and pushed back on them, that our productivity is their productivity and if they hinder it its on them. if they need anything they must come to me, and i will look after their request when we can. it took a while and a few meetings, but eventually it works. my team gets little to no distraction this way, and our productivity increased just because of the reduced context switching. some might see i do this to ensure i have a job tomorrow too, and while it has some truth in it, my main reason is the shield the people working with me. we are a team together, and as much as i dont want to be constantly nagged by “urgent” request, i dont want my team to be distracted either.

and that’s exactly what your line maganer should do, gateher the requests and make it sure it goes into the normal pipeline… rhather than having direct access to you or your team members …

34 More Replies...

Contakum

6y↑2.8K

Love this. The employee is absolutely honest to an absurd and impractical degree. The people questioning the employee are actually sincere in wanting to know what's wrong with the company. This doesn't happen in real life.

banshee b

Its not that they don't want to know what is wrong with the company. It is just that they just don't care. Corporate suits

Andrew Payne

2y↑1

Actually, reall consultants would LOVE to get this type of honesty from employees. So the portrayal of the Bob’s excitement actually matches what it would in real life.

York Hunt

2y↑3

You've missed the point ENTIRELY; they don't care what's wrong in the company, just what's COSTING the company money. They want know WHO TO FIRE, and Peter is the only one telling them!

Inspector_Gadget

@AxmxZ True but if they had an ongoing contract to do this on some time interval they would want to make sure their contract gets renewed

Steven M

they know it's a grift...

31 More Replies...

neoasura

5y↑3.8K

I love how he's the one that stops the interview on his time and terms lol.

Clint Mash

2y↑1

@jake lami I agree with your line of thinking. Not to get into the exact details - too many opinions in the world about leadership. But the concept of acting like a fellow adult in the room instead of cowering, tends to clarify the situation. Good environment, they'll push you to grow; bad environment, they'll try to stifle you. Your reactions to each dictate your future.

theanimator85

you must be a guy

jake lami

@Vincent Gonzalez Definitely something that lasts a lifetime...can take a lifetime to get the hang of too lol.

Vincent Gonzalez

2y↑1

@jake lami I like that I see in you some of what I learned in a leadership program and some of what is read in "10 laws of leadership" sounds like you would be able to make use of this as you already have
leadership skills, something they can't take away

I was seen as a leader weather I chose to or not so I need to rise to it

Shiftstart

Has upper management written all over his face.

19 More Replies...

bqhatevwrsb

4y↑2.1K

"that's my only real motivation, is not to be hassled" underrated line there

James McInnis

3y↑1

@Landon Letterman O-19? Come on, it's closer to an S-33. (If you know what I mean - wink, wink)

Landon Letterman

@James McInnis PG-13

Bingo? Nobody? Well, then.

G-17.......

O-19.......

I-21........

trysometruth

3y↑3

@Tyler Durden Life goals.

Tyler Durden

3y↑33

When you get old enough, you will find thatthis is what everyone's lives become. The quest to not be hassled.

James McInnis

3y↑9

What is the line rated?

2 More Replies...

aesthetic dude

3y↑564

The funny thing is that there have been actual studies about this. Most studies have found that in an average 9 to 5 job like this one, workers actually finish their work in less than 3 hours. However because they need to look busy, they space out their work, and schedule meetings about scheduling more meetings. In fact some bosses were even said to have been wanting to fire those employees, because of the fact that it seemed like they did nothing. When in reality they did their job perfectly fine, but it doesn’t “seem” like they are busy.

Benjamin Holman

@appleintosh nope. Same thing happens to per hour workers

Jim Moses

2y↑4

Yep. A century ago people would say "In the future, we will be so efficient that we will only need to work 10 hours a week! Life will be grand!". AAAnnnnddd...that's about all we do work now, but for some reason we still think we need to be "at work" for the same old 40 hours, like we did a century ago.

Hackneysack321

Even working on a coffee shop, you can get all the work done and actually take a step back and enjoy your job. Until a boss starts to believe there's more you could be doing. So then they give you busy work that doesn't necessarily contribute to a better workplace for everyone else. When the bosses realize the extra work isn't even necessary, they land upon cutting labor, which makes sense until you understand that busy periods are variable. So rather than being overstaffed sometimes, you are understaffed sometimes. This means that you have just enough labor to get by when things are slow and not enough when things aren't. Your entire job feels stressful all the time, and when you actually have a second to take a step back and shake off the stress, a boss is still there to tell you that there's work to be done and gets you going on a task you don't have enough time to complete well anyway. It's great!

Kevin J. O'Conner

2y↑1

Also, a really stupid thing is that whether or not you finish a particular task one day, there's going to be more to do the next day. So unless you've got a specific deadline to meet, or you just want some overtime, there's really no reason to ever stay at work late.

Kevin J. O'Conner

2y↑2

When I worked in Tokyo (granted, this was 30+ years ago, right after the stock market bubble burst), I put in a few late nights myself. On one occasion, I left just before midnight—and there were still about 15 people in the office, plugging away. Didn't stay late again after that. (And I'd already stopped going to meetings—never missed a thing.)

9 More Replies...

brashearbeer

8y↑3.5K

"It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I don't care" Our unofficial Dept motto.

Jess Radford-Proctor

Many years later, I am working at Walmart as a personal shopper... And the 8 bosses and lack of motivation but just enough to not being hassled is honestly kinda how my team goes about things.

Lane Nordgren

Hell yeah

DanielJJ

That rings so true with a few that I work with!

Thomas J

@Matt Cordeal great quote. This is one of my favorite movies.

Bah Humbug

3y↑1

@PgaTraveler and I bet they have 8 different bosses riding their butts there too.

7 More Replies...

Chewable Jim

3y↑177

Fun fact: John C. McGinley originally auditioned for Bill Lumburgh, but when it was obvious he wasn't going to get the part, he told Mike Judge "I just wanna be in this movie, it's the funniest script I've ever read!" Judge told him he would get in touch about a smaller part later, and McGinley assumed he was just being politely blown off, which was the norm for auditions. He was shocked when Judge actually followed through and offered him the part of one of the Bobs some time later.

Sky Neko

2y↑45

Luckily as a manager myself, I usually let my people work on their own. They can take breaks whenever they want and they don't have to be in front of the computers all the time, as long as things get done at the end of the day. The only time that I actually asked them or even had a meeting about what they were doing was when certain projects took longer than usual (and usually it was because of the amount of challenges they had faced). My motto is treat all employees with respect and give them the freedom to do their work and expand their horizon. Micromanagement never, ever, works.

Princess Marlena

Are you hiring? 😉

Nathan Bennett

2y↑3

@Ravi Comeup Good boss with good employees. This can't happen in every workplace

John Doe

2y↑3

I'd like to work for you pls

Ravi Comeup

2y↑4

You are a good boss.

Mitch Presley

2y↑70

"I have 8 different bosses."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Eight bosses."
"Eight?"
"Eight Bob."

I love that exchange.

o0julek0o

You missed out the funny sound Bob makes

Mohammed Ashian

“So that means that when I make a mistake I have 8 different people coming by to tell me about it”

shadowknight1121

Probably because that’s eight full time wages right there.

Tung Mai Bung

3y↑298

This movie is dedicated to those who’ve had their dreams and self respect slowly eroded over years of suffering in the meaningless hamster wheel of corporate America. There should be a 10-story memorial for all of us in Washington DC.

David Smith

@Tung Mai Bung ?=question, not sure where I could possibly lose you. In all seriousness, where did a "?" confuse you

Tung Mai Bung

@David Smith is the first sentence of your comment a statement or a question? What are you saying or asking here? Are you asking why can’t a person just choose to be an entrepreneur or move up the corporate ladder?

David Smith

2y↑1

Well someone is incapable of being an entrepreneur or able to move up the corporate ladder. Why is that? What's your deal?

Arch Onix

3y↑10

There is. It's the IMF building on 20th NW. It's actually 11 stories, but true to form, it's dedicated entirely to extracting money from the plebian mass while crushing their dreams for a better future.

Tamás Fábián

7y↑640

After almost 20 years this still holds up...

Adrian Garcia

@RhythmDroid those jobs disappeared right around the time this movie came out lmfao

Adrian Garcia

can anybody name a better piece of office based television show or movie that is as realistic as this?

TheBeezNeezGaming

@Kurrie You think the guy saying capitalism is bad is intelligent?

Oh.

dietcola

20 years isn't that long.

trysometruth

3y↑3

@WAlexander 🥀 I think the movie holds up as long as people exist. There's no form of societal organization that can flout or even hide the fact that most people are self-serving idiots.

11 More Replies...

NopeNope

3y↑70

This scene goes to show what the IT industry really values in employees. Michael Bolton, the good hard-working employee, come off as uncharismatic and insecure when he talks to the consultants, and gets fired - whereas Peter, a do-nothing but overconfident guy, gets promoted. Offices are exactly about that. This movie captures corporate politics perfectly.

Bendigo

3y↑175

"It's not than I'm lazy, I just don't care"

Most relatable line ever.

Mike S

I say it in work literally every day for 14 years. I sat it multiple times a day too. Legit drives everyone insane that i still say it

Bendigo

@banshee b Yup. That is basically burn out. It occurs when people doing any job, do more and/or know more than the others to make up for the others' lack of skill/effort, and that extra work goes unnoticed or they get punished for it.

And that good engineer vs bad engineer is true for pretty much any trade. But too many employers do not recognize that. They just look at the noney going out. Not the money the good ones bring in.

banshee b

It's not that I am lazy. It's just that I'm not inspired to work hard when I see working hard doesn't mean squat.

The hard worker were Micheal and sudeer. They were individual contributors who made more than the average employee because they had the most experience. Instead of the "bobs" or lumbergs of the movie inability to find a way to leverage them to increase total output (train less exp developers, mentorship, building soft skills to increase their leadership abilities, etc) they decided it is better to fire them in the short term.

A good engineer is worth 3 fresh ones and a bad engineer is actually a negative asset.

lacouerfairy

6y↑394

I love how delighted they were when Peter said he'd consider taking stock options.

Paul Walters

@PhrontDoor Yep! What I was thinking.

PhrontDoor

3y↑57

Stock options don't really fix the problem Peter mentioned.
If HE works hard and causes another sale then that is an increase in revenue to the company. But stock options are predicated on the valuation of the company across all departments.. so if Peter triggers a sale, and his boss loses five sales, then stock options penalize Peter.

Peter would be best served by some form of actual direct performance incentive from the company.

Lord Stuart

3y↑99

The first worker they interviewed that gave them useful, tangible information on where to trim the fat, and how to really motivate the cogs in the machine... Of course they were delighted, lol!

777jones

5y↑17

lacouerfairy and then he leaves like a boss

1 More Replies...

Rudy E.

2y↑34

I'm absolutely in love with how much they like Peter lmao. 1:08 when Peter leans back, Bob shakes his head (acknowledging he can't say where the motivation should come from) and he also leans back, mirroring Peter just a few seconds later lol.

Brandon Parker

Also at 2:06 the little "Wow..." as Peter is leaving. 😂

Anthony Senese

8y↑904

Every line in this entire conversation is quotable. That's why it's so great

Kevin Muller

3y↑1

You have no idea how many times my friends and I have quote the entire, and parts, of this scene

JonW

6y↑15

I don't know I guess

Ash M

3y↑65

way back in university, we had this clip and my lecturer asked "why are they saying "the pleasure is all on this side""

12 years down the line and working in consultancy, I can only dream of an employee being this honest

Erich

2y↑1

Took me getting, well, to just now to understand it (I'm 28). If I'm hired to help a company optimize I'd probably kill for a guy like peter

Ken H

3y↑1

I tend to be too honest in jobs. I've been too honest with customers, too. I was godawful at pushing extended warranties on people at a store that I will not name, but has the word "office" in it, when I thought they really didn't need one.

Banana Junta

I got it just now.

B

4y↑592

This movie needs to be taught in High School as a study on the souless corporate workplace

B L

@Spencer Schubert It became my favorite movie when I saw it at age 10

ARandomDarkLink

I got this shown in my I/O psychology class. A lot of relevant info here man!

Greg

Well said

Mazer2721

Or government jobs. I've found myself in the exact same position as a bean-counter for a local government office.

11 More Replies...

Thermalburn

5y↑153

Pete Gibbons is literally me. Amazing how quickly the energy and enthusiasm is drained from your soul after dealing with inept management. I dont think I've shown up to work on time in over 2 years

Jrpowered

2y↑3

@Travis McNasty Hal?

Travis McNasty

2y↑8

I haven't been to work on a Friday is over fifteen years...

Dmitrisnikioff

3y↑56

My favourite from that scene is him deciding that he's had enough of the meeting and telling them he's leaving: it's such an absolute chad power move

Conversational

8y↑352

Is "Office Space" the greatest workplace comedy of all time? We can't think of one that beats it...thanks for sharing Movieclips!

RABD

The sci-fi horror equivalent would be the show Severance. Change the tone from comedy to drama and you have something that rivals Office Space's theme around with workplace issues.

cranky bear123

Sorry to bother you is ok too

Osama Al-Humaimidi

Comedy? Nah, this is a dark depressing documentary of the predatory corporation exploiting the labor of their employees while providing the very bare minimum in compensation

Billy W

3y↑3

It depends on your work experience I would imagine.
I worked at a big box store and saw Employee of the Month with some coworkers, and that was absolutely hilariously accurate. I had seen Office Space and I thought it was farcical with some great lines, but that's it.

I now work in an office and this blows Employee of the Month out of the water.

Ekaros

3y↑3

I thought that it was documentary?

5 More Replies...

M J

3y↑39

Nearly every job I have worked, all the headaches came from above. I eventually came to this conclusion, "Most companies succeed because management fails to destroy them."
I now have my own business, and I will never forget.

Bendigo

@M J great attitude 😁👍

M J

3y↑4

Thanks for the advice, no worries there. The way I see it, life outside of work is full of stress, anxiety, turmoil and relationship drama. Work should be a place to let go of all that for a while, a place where one can direct all their energy and focus to accomplish a worthy goal.
Whether it's sweeping a floor or doing budget projections, every task is important to the success of the company.
For me, personally, one of the quickest ways for someone to "fire themselves" is to mistreat someone under them.

Bendigo

3y↑2

Just remember where you came from, dont become one of those "higher ups" that made everything miserable for those below them.

Jim Mulvaney

2y↑8

Peter Gibbons: The timeless voice of every under-valued employee.

Christopher Blake

2y↑10

What I truly love about this is.... This is the secret to life....!

Once you stop trying to control every little outcome or situation, (comes off as not giving a damn) you become free, and those around may hate it at first, but then subconsciously love it through a sense of wanting it and relatability....

The art of letting go.....transcend fear... It's a Beautiful thing if you can get there and maintain it. 😁

Magy09able

7y↑242

There is something in this movie that may be familiar to anyone. Like, I 've never worked in an office, still a student, but the 8 bosses thing and the lack of care sounds pretty familiar.

Just a man in Michigan

I have 6 bosses.

Jay Pritchett

4y↑6

I lived with my parents until I got married (27 years old) and I had to do everyone’s laundry, dishes, etc. And if I missed something, I had at least 3 people come after me! (And it wasn’t even my mess)
So I’m glad it’s just me and my hubby now! We don’t have any bosses! lol 😉

kukis13

6y↑24

5 years ago when I was finishing my Bachelor I would never expect that this is the actual everyday reality of most office workers. Now, having worked in 3 different companies I see indeed it is. This movie is very close to reality unfortunately :/

Greg Jenkinson

2y↑8

I love the fact that even though in reality this would not be taken well Peter still gives them the most honest and constructive feedback to help the company

John Dunn

2y↑5

I finally sat down and watched this movie for the first time like 3 days ago. remarkable how little has changed over 20 years later

Darin Broadway

3y↑104

I literally say “The pleasure’s all on this side of the table” whenever I get the chance.

Sébastien Fraggl

2y↑7

i'll always remember the first time i saw this movie, couldn't believe my eyes ! I've met so many characters of this movie in real life like the incendiary guy Milton, was the exact copy of my coworker for almost 3 years. When i say exact copy i mean it in every little details, the glasses, the way he talked everything !

vinniebarusa

I got a job at a new company and many techs came from other companies around town. I was told by another in the industry about a real strange duck that I’d be working with. On Day 1 in a room with roughly 250 employees it took less than 15 minutes to figure out who it was.

Jordan Campos

3y↑82

to be honest he gives them more insight in how the company runs than I bet they ever heard before lol

desert punk

3y↑3

Its on paper the company is doing good but what happens behind the scenes and the workers that keep it afloat is where most oreos dont realize the bullshit thats going down.

J C

5y↑368

I hear you've been missing work lately. Peter: I wouldn't say I'm missing it Bob.

Mojo Joji

3y↑3

Bob:hahahahahha

David

3y↑10

I love how Peter laughs at the Bob saying it’s a big “what if” like he already knows where he’s going with the sentence.

Peter Twiss

2y↑1

The reason this film and especially why this scene is so good, is that many people have been in a job working under the same inept, incompetent and shallow management as this guy. We have all seen how some managers want us to spend an hour writing reports about tasks that take half an hour to accomplish. I've also worked for a toxic company where I have "done just enough work not to get sacked"!

Caleb983

5y↑7

Everybody loves the line, "It's not that I'm lazy..." but the real zinger is Peter's subtle, "I'm gonna go," as soon as the Bob's start offering stock options

Jeff Abbott

5y↑47

"I'm gonna go.." Love how Peter is the one that ends the meeting.

Caric813

2y↑3

I’ve been through this in real life. A third party comes in to try and find out what a “typical” day of yours looks like. Yes it exists and it’s terrifying because you know your job is at stake. I just wish I could go back in time 5 years ago and be as cool as Peter😂

Michael Adames

6y↑11

Never gets old, never stops being funny; somehow, never stops being any less accurate.

Muhlum24

3y↑15

I love how the idea of workplace morale is completely foreign to the Bobs.

Mr. X

3y↑13

I saw this movie when I got my first job out of college. Every year it rings more and more true.

Juan Ande

7y↑25

I love that part with the two guys in the background walking by with the gigantic folder... like, you just KNOW they're both looking up some meaningless company SOP so they don't get hassled by their 8 different bosses.

Jairus Robb

2y↑7

"That will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired." Haha. So true.

eduardoig17

3y↑29

So true about working just hard enough not to get fired. That is corporate America for you

Frank Blissett

2y↑4

Love how the movie made the down-sizers out as sincere, hard-working trouble-shooters.

Joseph Esperanza

3y↑2

The funny thing is he’s probably the only guy who gave them useful data to work with for their consultation. Everyone else is on their best behavior and trying to feed the Bobs what they think will save their asses from getting fired and a lot of them were caught.

Miguel Servetus

2y↑3

This movie is so true that it’s painful. I remember the first time I saw it and couldn’t wait to see the resolution. Sadly it offers no hope or relief.

vinniebarusa

2y↑2

Back when I worked on a cube farm one of the “bosses” with shoulder length hair came to my cube and asked for suggestions on how to raise productivity. The company was going under anyway so I decided “screw it” and said, “Well, you could offer to shave your head if numbers are met.”
Her: Well I can’t do that…
Me: Well <male boss> offered to shave his head if numbers were met but he doesn’t have much up there anyway. I figured everyone would be more motivated if you offered the same deal.
🤔🤣

FSU2001

6y↑20

John C. McGinley is in 96% of all movies ever made.

Brian Bird

3y↑1

His agent is awesome.

kim ama

3y↑2

He's so underrated.

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Rex Oates

2y↑1

One of the most satisfying scenes in movie history.

milehiguy

Such a funny movie. Years ago, two reorganization consultants just like these guys spent a few weeks at our large office building. Everyone referred to them as The Bobs. 😂

Anthony David

3y↑7

I watched this movie when I was in high school and it literally changed my life.

Daniel Mihalko

The way he says "this is a hypothetical" the cadence is just perfect lol

Hemp Rope

4y↑12

I love the part where the bobs propose the stock equity thing. It shows how they have no clue what the hell the main character is talking about.

Hemp Rope

4y↑5

@SpecialWhenLit Exactly. That's the problem - even if he works harder, he won't have any real effect on the stocks, but the bobs don't understand that despite it making perfect sense.

SpecialWhenLit

4y↑13

Well, they're trying to address his "lack of motivation" . Hypothetically, if he's financially invested in the company, then he'll be more personally invested in doing his job well. If his contribution helps the company grow and profits go up, then Peter makes more money via the stock options. Microsoft used to offer stock options to its employees as well.

Problem is, at a smaller place like Initech, the stock options aren't going to be worth hundreds of dollars like they would be at a giant tech company, plus Peter knows he can't move that needle much on his own. Stock options are a better motivating tool for management to "get the most" out of all the workers and raise productivity and profits across the board. For Peter it's basically "tip pooling", his potential efforts would likely be negated by some other slacker not pulling their weight. As somebody who worked under a tip pooling system for over 3 years, I hated it for that reason.

(Plus management was almost certainly dipping into our tip pool to purchase decorations and other miscellaneous items to "increase the department's profit margin". In my 2nd year we'd had a big meeting where the department heads had told us we could go into overtime but we'd be making 94% of our regular pay instead of time-and-a-half. After that fiasco we didn't trust them to handle our pay for anything.)

jeffrey Urrea

8y↑88

I so wish I could talk like this to a board of directors or CEO of a company I work for lol

Sluggz McGee

@cleo715 Where do I apply?

cleo715

4y↑6

I've done it (I actually WANT to get fired because we get a great severance package, and if I quit I get 💩)...and it's still pointless. NOTHING changed and I'm STILL employed. After rewatching "Office Space" I wouldn't be surprised if I even got promoted 😔

robajohnson

Just get hypnotized!

o

2y↑1

This illustrates why I love my current job. I have stuff to do I know about weeks or even months in advance, and I have stuff to do daily. As long as I'm on top of it, I never even see a supervisor. I've had days where I just hung out in the break room for 5 hours cause I was done with everything for the week. (I'm paid by the hour or I'd have just gone home.)

Erin Harkiewicz

What do you do? Can I come work with you?

Triston S.

I freaking love this movie

Rich Gerow

2y↑3

I love how the heading on the whiteboard reads "Planning to Plan." Bureaucracy at it's finest.

StackerBA

3y↑1

I could watch this movie at any time. So good

Deep Sleep

2y↑2

I love the follow up meeting the two Bob’s have with Lumbergh. This guy(Peter) has management (manager?) written all over him. Lumbergh can’t believe it.

D V

2y↑6

I can relate to this now. For years I use to work hard for the company. Considered to be an outstanding employee. On a scale from 1 to 5 I have always been a 5, until last year. Had my review, my boss told me we can't have that type of work ethic in the work place. Management does NOT want to see anymore outstanding employee reviews like mine. Everyone needs to be on an equal playing field in the work place so going above and beyond for the company, like what I have been doing, has got to STOP immediately.

So now I come to work late, watch Youtube videos all day, never return work related phone calls and take 2 hour lunches. My work ethic has dropped tremendously, just like the company wants. They have completely taken the wind out of my sales and have committed myself to doing as little as possible for them. Actually this request from my superiors here has gotten me use to settling into a socialist society existence, which is now what America is becoming. I can't thank management enough for helping me along converting me into becoming like all the other socialist deadbeats here.

D V

@Goldy Twatus Huh?

Goldy Twatus

@D V The country of youtube?

D V

@Goldy Twatus You want socialism in this country? This is what you'll get.

Goldy Twatus

@D V Sure kiddo

D V

@Goldy Twatus like right now, I'm at work, came in :45 mins late and now watching YouTube for a few hours. After that headed to lunch for an hour or two. Company told me to do less, soooo ....I am. Have a good day.

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Francixco Robles

9y↑355

I come late, go into the side door so I don't have to say hi to anyone, pretend to work and then go back home XD

Thee Optimist

@Gus Grizzel I think many, many people do not know this. Many young were born after it happened, and the history has mostly been lost, replaced by frantic tik tok videos. Most young people I know (and quite a few middle-aged people) are completely brainwashed by modern corporate culture. They carry on every day conversations using ideas and jargon they learn from corporations. I know a young guy who while in college, did a management internship at Amazon. He told me the warehouse workers "choose to live that way."

Gus Grizzel

@Thee Optimist Gee, you think no one knows this?

Thee Optimist

@Gus Grizzel Everything has always been workers vs. management. Really, it's workers vs. ownership, and the management simply represent the owners. Before the government broke the unions, this was well understood by everyone. The workers have been thrown to the wolves. Which is how you end up with Amazon warehouse employees working grueling hours, under unsafe conditions, while living in RVs.

Ken H

@redshadow - How do ridiculous amounts of company policy emails that employees are forced to read and respond to every day and even on weekends fit into the "management compass"?

21 More Replies...

Muuru Kurisuchiaan

3y↑6

One of the real gems of this scene is the elaborate flowchart on the whiteboard in the background that says "Planning To Plan"... Effing Brilliant!!

leonious mumblescraper

3y↑1

I saw that too, it’s a hoot. This is the kind of movie with all sorts of funny things positioned in the background.

Looking for Wyatte Earp

2y↑1

One of the best comedies ever.

GCNavigator

Amazing scene. Fantastic movie.

D. E. Kirkbride

The accuracy depicted in the cubicle life of the office worker herein is uncanny... even if it’s a movie 🎥

Bruce Glock

4y↑9

A guy I knew back in the seventies worked as a skilled trades in one of the big three in Detroit. He worked the midnight shift, he kept a small pillow in his tool box and would do what he needed to for the first hour then would disappear for the rest of his shift. Good pay, benefits, what more could you want?

Bruce Glock

@BCaTTenterprises Just saw that episode the other night.

BCaTTenterprises

2y↑1

Costanza! Where the hell is he? He was humming a tune earlier I gotta know what it is...

cattysplat

3y↑4

"A smart man knows when to be seen as a hard worker, and when not to be seen at all" - me

Vic Correll

3y↑4

The pleasure is all on this side of the table. What a great line!

B

3y↑4

From an outside perspective, he gave them an honest portrayal of how the company works. If they can't compensate the workers, the workers can't care about their company. Money loses value in a job that demands too much or too little.

Shashank K E

I just love this scene.

Matthew Wolfe

People saying this doesn’t happen in real life, you’re wrong. My wife (who did this soul sucking job for years) told me they never later off someone who was honest in her experience.

“I use the handicap bathroom to Jack for some I don’t fall asleep at my desk.”

Jacob L

if I was HR or a boss, id actually react just like them and be stunned by his honesty. would prob even promote him 😆

yossarian MNichols

Probably the best clip in this classic movie. Mike Judge is a man for our times.

James Sm

This movie is like a shameful, over the top, yet incredibly accurate view into the corporate cubicle world. It’s not really that far out there, it just seems like it.

Snookslayer

3y↑1

Ugly office building, working in cubicles, broken printers, chain restaurants with "Zingers"... the movie nailed today's working environment. Modern life might be more comfortable than years past, but there ain't much quality to it.

Bunson Baker

4y↑2

The guy playing the main character is perfect because he literally looks like an average joe, nothing super descriptive about him. Decent looking guy who plays an everyman

James McInnis

He "literally" doesn't.

Sazon_papi47 Ortiz

Like legit I think anyone can relate to something in this movie lol even if u don’t work in a office they hit a lot of points on this 😂

Jason Windsor

3y↑1

The “work just hard enough to not get fired” line is so damn relatable

Lloyd Keith

3y↑2

Hahaha,... the true art of I really, and I mean REALLY, not care about keeping this job. Once you have gotten to a place in life where you know if this job doesn't work out you will easily just get another is very empowering. It allows a level of honesty not available before.

colin6768

6y↑1

This movie (and this scene in particular) warms the cockles of my heart. It's the movie version of Dilbert.

mrmacross

Working in benefits right now, don't even get to use my training (actuarial).

The biggest motivator I have going for me is that if I don't work hard, one of the 8 or so people who regularly give me assignments will yell at me and complain about me. That got me motivated, for a while, and now the fear of being yelled at is practically gone.

SuperNerd23

I felt the same way. It doesn't matter how many fries I give them, they'll either be angry at me anyway or just give me cold indifference.

DIABLO258

3y↑4

It's great that he's the one who ends the meeting. "Listen, I'm going to go"

Mike R

3y↑2

My favorite part of this scene is how left Bob is totally stumped and speechless when he questions the motivation.

San Ansa

3y↑1

this is still one of my favorite movies.

David Butler

5y↑4

No bullshit this is an accurate assessment of most workplaces.

DinoTitanedition

The movie achieved to be the mirror of millions of workers lifes despite of being over twenty years old.

kim ama

This movie captures working in a big office environment perfectly :D

Hannah Parham

3y↑28

“And believe me, THIS. IS. A. HYPOTHETICAL!” 🤣

VoyageOne1

5y↑105

"Good luck with your layoffs, I hope your firing's going well"

Ken H

3y↑6

Why in God's name does anyone bother to give this clip a dislike? I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume they were upset it didn't last long enough.

Graham

this scene represents these guys going from office to office hearing waffle why people should keep their jobs, They come across this guy who basically tells them what they need to know ,How to trim the fat

Susan Fisher

This is more relevant now than ever. Movie is genius!

H Mars

2y↑1

This movie should have made hundreds of billions of dollars it was hilarious

Lyra T

3y↑14

Office workers in the 90s: "there is nothing worse than a cubicle"

Bosses in the 2000s: invents open floor offices

panachevitz

3y↑2

Oh no, open floor offices were invented looooooooong before any of us came around, like back in the 1900s. Workers back then didn't care for it either. Frank Lloyd Wright designed a global company HQ with an open layout that exactly none of the employees liked one bit. 50 years after being built, it was knocked down for a parking lot. A better use could not have been found for that nonsense.

Mike Rodríguez

4y↑1

"It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't care" I tell that you my bosses, co-workers and anybody that's seen this movie. I also tell them every Monday morning.. Someone has the case of the Mondays...

Robert Morin

3y↑2

My favorite part of the movie is when Lumberg tries to cut Peter off in the hall by taking a wide stance and saying Peter... what's happening...and Peter just steps around him.

UncannyCerebro

3y↑1

Definitely my favorite scene lol.

tkell31

3y↑2

Greatest comedy of all time? Maybe, but it's by far the best horror movie ever. I think of guys working on assembly lines, which makes Peter's problems look like paradise, and I shudder.