Fans of The Office might be a little biased in thinking that Michael Scott is a genius in disguise, but there are moments during the show when it would appear that he’s not quite as dim as he appears to be sometimes. There have been a few moments here and there when the veneer of idiocy slips away and his actions show that he’s in control of the situation no matter how chaotic it might look to the audience. It’s almost a ‘look behind the curtain’ moment that reveals the real intelligence that Michael possesses, making it clear that all the bumbling he does throughout the rest of the show is a disguise that works quite well but is sometimes a little TOO good since many people have actually questioned how and why he’s been the head of the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin for so long. Let’s be honest and say that a lot of us have had at least one job that was lorded over by a boss that didn’t appear to be competent enough to flip the light switch, but somehow managed to convince everyone that they were capable of running the place. This is where intelligence tends to get tricky, since some people can act like complete buffoons and yet maintain a level of intellect that they keep close to the vest so to speak, applying it when they need to and keeping it tucked away until it’s necessary to let it come forth.
That’s the kind of intelligence that Michael might have held for the duration of his time on the show since all too often it felt as though the boss of the Scranton branch didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing or what was going on. One has to wonder just how much he simply let happen while he was doing…whatever it was that he was doing. Some might want to argue that he was in control of the situation at every moment and only stepped in when he was absolutely needed, but there’s another theory that he might have been intelligent enough to keep the position he had, but he was also intelligent and opportunistic enough to take control of a situation when other people on the show slipped up. Those that end up taking advantage of a tense or bad situation might appear to be in control and have everything figured out, but it could also be that they’re banking on their mistakes being overshadowed by the mistakes of others, thereby making themselves look so much better. It’s a back and forth game in which one person will eventually come out looking as though they knew what they were doing all along, and it could be that Michael is very good at this game, which would mean that he is intelligent enough to know what’s going on, but he’s also quick on his feet when it comes to getting out of one jam or another. That’s more of a survival instinct than actual intelligence, as it keeps a person moving from one situation to another without having to take as much responsibility but still being granted the kudos for doing a ‘good job’.
At one point people have to back up and figure out who’s kidding who, but if a person knows how to work the situation then they’ll already be moving on while the other person is still trying to figure out what just happened. So yes, it’s based on intelligence, but it’s also the mark of a good huckster since being able to get one over on another human being isn’t always about how smart you are, it’s also about how quick your mind works and whether or not one can use misdirection and trickery to their advantage. While he might be intelligent, one thing that a lot of people should be able to state about Michael is that he was never wise. Wisdom is defined as the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. I’d definitely argue over Michael’s knowledge since there were times when he knew plenty about the business, but not nearly enough about his people or their jobs and why they deserved the respect he didn’t always give. If anyone wanted to argue about his good judgment it almost feels that they would be backpedaling in the next instant since there are simply too many times when Michael could have practiced sound judgment but chose not to or appeared to be incapable of doing so. More than once he operated on emotion or on self-interest and it was always evident that he was a less than stellar boss when this happened.
So yeah, Michael is an intelligent guy, there’s no doubt of that. But the world’s best boss? The jury is still out on that one.
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