William Lumbergh is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, who appeared initially in the Milton animated shorts, and later was portrayed by Gary Cole

Gary Cole

Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...

 in the 1999 film Office Space

Office Space

Office Space is a 1999 American comedy film satirizing work life in a typical 1990s software company. Written and directed by Mike Judge, it focuses on a handful of individuals fed up with their jobs portrayed by Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich...

. A caricature of corporate management, Lumbergh is the division Vice President of the software company Initech, and serves as the main antagonist

Antagonist

An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

 of the film.

Lumbergh is a micromanager

Micromanagement

In business management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of her or his subordinates or employees...

 who is focused on pointless

Busy work

Busy work is a term for work or assignments that are time consuming, but not useful. It is typically used to refer to schoolwork which is time consuming for students but not educationally valuable, but can also refer to procedures or paperwork in a bureaucracy which is unnecessary...

 paperwork

Red tape

Red tape is excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making...

, notably TPS report

TPS report

A TPS report is a document used in software engineering, in particular by a Software Quality Assurance group or individual, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.- Definition :...

s; he has been described as "the antithesis of the motivational management leadership ideal". He uses "What's happening?" as a greeting, and when asking an employee to do some unpleasant task starts his sentences with, "m' yeah, I'm gonna need you to" or "if you could just go ahead and", as well as ending these requests with "That'd be great" and "Mmmkay?". A Wharton Journal perspectives article opines that the character "brilliantly exposed the emptiness of linguistic conventions at work." Social historian Joe Moran

Joe Moran (social historian)

Joe Moran is a social and cultural historian who has written about everyday life, especially British everyday life from the mid-twentieth century until the present day....

 writes that Lumbergh's "non-confrontational" communication style "masks the reality of management coercion".

The irony of the character's popularity is noted in GQ/Details

Details (magazine)

Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...

 Men. Style.com, "[T]he guy who stops by your desk and says, 'Mmm, yeah, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday,' is now an integral part of the soul-crushing corporate culture

Organizational culture

Organizational culture is defined as “A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to...

 Lumbergh was created to satirize in the first place."

Cole later reprised Lumbergh on the Family Guy

Family Guy

Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz

"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of Family Guy. The episode follows Peter's decision to find a new religion for himself...

" in a cameo appearance

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

.

Deleted scenes from Office Space actually hint that Lumbergh was originally going to be killed off, but this plot point was deleted from the finished product in post-production .

External links

• Best Bosses from Hell discussing Lumbergh, from NPR's Talk of the Nation
  Talk of the Nation
  Talk of the Nation is a talk radio program based in the United States, produced by National Public Radio, and is broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Its focus is current events and controversial issues....
  
  (July 27, 2006)