Scott Adams Who? Read on to Find Out Interesting Facts about the Creator of Dilbert.
The name Scott Adams might not ring a bell, but we’re sure the name Dilbert will. Scott Adams is the creator of Dilbert, the American comic strip first published in April 1989. Dilbert is the main character, and he works in a white-collar, micromanaged office.
Let’s find out 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Scott Adams.
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1
Life before Dilbert
Scott Adams has loved cartoons since he was a kid, “Peanuts” being his favourite. Drawing was also a favourite pastime, and at age 11 he won a drawing competition.
Fast-forward many years, Adams finds himself working at Crocker National Bank. He’d wake every morning at 4am and practise his drawing and cartoons.
Despite his cartoon being rejected by Playboy and The New Yorker, a letter from a fan inspired him to keep going. And the rest … well… history.
2
Who Is Dilbert?
He’s a technically minded white guy. He sucks at romance and has terrible social skills, which is probably why he’s remained single since 1989.
The cartoon revolves around office politics, employees who are not rewarded for their hard work and where being busy is praised over being productive.
Despite being created in the late 80s, those office issues are as relevant today as it was back then.
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3
Real Coffee with Scott Adams – His YouTube Channel
If you’d like to get to know Scott Adams on a more personal level, subscribe to his YouTube channel – Real Coffee with Scott Adams.
He’s got 103,000 subscribers and he live streams every day. Some of his most watched clips include “How to make bad ideas go away” and “Warm Apple Pie and Sunshine Are the Decoy Topics of the Day.”
There he affirms that he is also a trained hypnotist and an expert on persuasion.
4
Scott Adams Explains F**K You Money
Adams says F**k you money is the idea that “once you have enough money, you don’t need a boss, nobody can tell you what to do. The public can’t stop buying your product and hurt you, because you have enough money already…” He adds that you’re not really free until you can turn around and say “f**k you to all your customers and your boss.”
5
He Maintains a Level Head through the Political Hype
As reported by Forbes, Adams loves it when people get riled up when it comes to politics. If he is interviewing someone, taking part in a debate, or creating a video, he keeps his voice level and calm and adds a dismissive chuckle every once in a while… this method is an effective tactic which often gets people wondering if he knows something they don’t.
Aluxers, remain level-headed and cool, it’s got far greater impact than shouting out your ideas to get yourself heard.
6
A Failed Prediction
Scott Adams was a firm supporter of Trump in 2016, according to comicsands.com. When Biden and Trump were both running for presidency, Adams predicted that voting for Biden would mean you’d be dead within a year.
He tweeted, “If Biden is elected, there’s a good chance you will be dead within the year.” Well, everyone is very much alive, and the Twitter responses have been everything you’d expect and more especially when someone pointed out that the prediction was “loserthink”.
A public figure who does predict things accurately enough is Bill Gates. Check out 15 Predictions Bill Gates Made That All Came True.
7
How to Avoid “Loserthink”
Scott Adams is the author of several books including God’s Debris, The Religion War, Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! How To Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter and then Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America.
Regarding “loserthink” he says, “I don’t mean that they’re a loser. It’s not about the person. It is about the experience which the person has been subjected to. People tend to come at topics with just the filter that they just happen to have because of the life that they led. What I recommend is that you expose yourself at least to the general ideas of how other people think.”
All the books are great listens, so download your selection on Audible by going to alux.com/freebook.
8
Adams Blasts Clichéd Career Advice
In his opinion, goals are for losers and systems for winners. He thinks passion is rubbish, but personal energy will steer you much further.
In the book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams writes that “A combination of mediocre skills can make you surprisingly valuable. You can manage your odds in a way that makes you look lucky to others.” And we think that knowledge will resonate well with many.
9
Adams Take Advantage of the Halo Effect
You might remember us speaking about the Halo Effect in our video, 15 Unfair Advantages Attractive People Have, where we said “if you meet someone who is beautiful, then you imagine that other parts of that person are beautiful too…”
In Adams situation, he is a famous cartoonist with a lot of money… so he uses the positive bias people have towards him in other areas of his life, making him an “expert” in fields way outside the realm of illustrating and one-liners.
10
He Has a Lot of Green
Scott Adams has a net worth of $75 million. Dilbert has brought in the bulk of his earnings, then add his books, his position as CEO of Scott Adams Foods, Inc – although there’s little information about this company, except a major failed product which we’ll tell you more about later. There’s his Dilbert merch, lectures, and public speaking gigs.
64-year-old Adams married his second wife, Kristina Basham – more than 30-years his junior – in 2020.
11
Scott Adams Allegedly Lost 3 Jobs Due to Race
Reported on Mercury News, Adams claims he lost 3 jobs because of his race. He said, “I lost my TV show for being white when UPN decided it would focus on an African-American audience.” “That was the third job I lost for being white. The other two in corporate America. (They told me directly.)”
The TV show in question was the animated version of Dilbert. Adams then changed his story, also on Twitter, and blamed the UPN network for the show not doing well. Those on Twitter called out Adams for lying when he blamed his race for the show not being renewed.
12
Scott Adams Recovered from Two Big Health Issues
From 2004, Adams struggled with focal dystonia, which limited his ability to write on paper. Fortunately, with the use of an electronic tablet, he’s managed to overcome that.
The other big health problem was spasmodic dysphonia, which affected his vocal cords. He had to undergo surgery to repair them.
Despite these challenges, he went on to record the audiobook for “Loserthink” which reached number #1 in its category on Amazon.
13
He Predicted Trump’s Win
We mentioned that Adam’s is a trained hypnotist and uses the power of persuasion throughout his work and life, and Adams saw the same power of persuasion in Trump.
Seeing this, he correctly predicted that Trump would win the presidency as he shared with Vlad TV on an interview for their YouTube channel.
14
Rational Risk Taking Is Essential
We all fear doing something wrong, and Adams believes that holds us back. To avoid this feeling and to absorb the criticism and embarrassment, Adams suggests putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.
As reported on SHRM.org, or Society for Human Resource Management, Adams says “There are lots of ways to put yourself in situations you know are psychologically uncomfortable but that eventually you’ll get used to. It takes practice and looking at the big picture and understanding that none of this hurts you physically.”
15
Career Lessons from Adams
Scott Adams leaves us with plenty of great career advice including, according to Business Insider:
“Be open-minded and make yourself available.”
“Expand in diverse ways.”
“Stay light-hearted.”
Question:
What is your opinion on the Dilbert cartoons? Are you a fan? We’d love to know.
