I’m Mr. Meeseeks! Look at me!
A Rick & Morty Lesson In Technology & Consulting
A Meeseeks Box is a wonderful thing and now available at Walmart for just $19.98. On the comic series Rick & Morty, this box instantly materializes a little blue man committed to fulfilling a single request. The Walmart version probably won’t, but you can try…
After the request is complete, Mr Meeseeks, the little blue man’s name, poofs out of existence. This may seem cruel except for two interesting things. There seems to be no limit to the number of Meeseeks in the universe — so we won’t run out. And second, they exist only to solve a problem — they literally can’t wait to be destroyed. That is one hell of a terminal feedback loop (but that is for other articles).
This article sees Mr Meeseeks as a wonderful parable on business consulting and technology. I am not sure that is what Roiland and Harmon had in mind, but this is my article so …. burp, belch them.
Rick presents Mr Meeseeks to his family to solve their annoying little problems and to get them off his back. He gives them a demo, asking Mr Meeseeks to open a jar. He warns them to keep their requests simple. As with all wonderful technology — abuse and stupidity follow.
Using Technology For Self-Improvement
Rick’s family members are off the reservation within minutes. Seriously, they don’t even experiment with a simple clean the kitchen request or help me with my science homework (the ask that started this thing). Instead we get three requests:
Summer: I want to be more popular at school.
Beth: I want to be a more complete woman.
And oddly cautious & thoughtful Jerry: I want to take two strokes off my golf game.
Three requests that are all predicated on self-improvement. That may not be a complete sentence, but it is a common over reach. Buy (or find) a new technology, then believe that it can change or improve everything. A concept that is as malformed as the sentence I presented it in.
While Mr. Meeseeks is “technology in a box”, everyone’s favorite kind, he is essentially a consultant. The two goals or tasks set by the ladies, which are completely unmeasurable, prove easy enough. Mr Meeseeks are savvy. Like any wily consultant tasked with an unmeasurable goal, they spend their time convincing the ladies that the task was done. As perception is the only measure of success… poof, happy Meeseeks.
In typical irony, Jerry, who spends more time being thoughtful and cautious in his request, creates a simple and measurable task. Unfortunately, as is often the case, this proves either too smart by half or too dumb, depending on your perspective. A measurable outcome requires results, but this can’t overcome the greater issue.
Technology makes things easier, not better. Better comes by reinvesting the saved labor and time to improve the process.
Had Jerry asked Mr Meeseeks to make it easier for him to get better at golf, we don’t have an issue or a story or an article. But Jerry employed a technology to solve a problem he needed a teacher for. Never one to give up, Mr Meeseeks engages in the agonizingly long process of making Jerry better at golf. Remember — Meeseeks hate their existence, after two hours they start to get a bit testy.
Mr Meeseeks and Jerry then fall for the world’s most classic blunder. No, not starting a land war in Asia. Trying to solve a problem one consultant can’t fix by hiring more consultants. Trust me, every land war in Asia was likely the result of bad consulting. “Oh, Russian winters are over-rated Mr Emperor-Fuhrer, sir”
At a minimum, hire different consultants. Better still, hire the right one. You need someone to recognize that the goal was wrong in the first place. But now, with an army of angry Meeseeks in existence, some now tasked with killing others (an odd paradox that is glossed over later), our story turns ugly.
As with most Rick & Morty episodes, violence is an answer. There is no grand realization, no real lesson learned. In the face of death, Jerry finds grim determination and that is enough to improve his golf game. Although, oddly — or perhaps not, no one officially measures the improvement. One Mr Meeseeks does ask for additional ad hoc evidence, but little else. It is classic consulting 101.
Rick & Morty episodes do tend to end with blame. They are good at creating reasonable anger and finger pointing. It is easy enough to do in situations like this where escalation leads to near disaster. But in the end, it was a failure to recognize the true purpose of technology that led us here. The inclination to double down in the face of frustration didn’t help either. Thanks for reading!
For another Rick & Morty inspired article:
