What Michael Scott from “The Office” Can Teach You About Communication And Humility
Sometimes, it’s helpful to explain yourself as if your audience was five years old.
Nobody has ever confused Michael Scott with Albert Einstein or Confucius. But if you can look past Michael Scott’s immaturity and craving to be liked, you’ll find nuggets of wisdom you can apply in your life, whether you work for a mid-sized paper supply company or not.
In the cold open of Episode 10 of Season 5 of The Office, Oscar the erudite accountant walks into Michael’s office with a spreadsheet indicating that Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch has performed well financially. Michael takes a quick glance at the spreadsheet and then quickly asks Oscar if he could explain it as if Michael were eight years old.
Oscar responds by noting that the overall fiscal budget for the year can be found along the X-axis and that the branch now has a $4,300 surplus that must be spent by the end of the day to maintain the following year’s budget. After a quick pause, Michael then delivers one of my favorite lines from the series to Oscar:
“Why don’t you explain this to me like I’m five?”
Michael was unafraid to admit he didn’t comprehend Oscar’s explanation. And once he nudged…
