Definitely channeling Alice, yup! Gosh, how I love how Asok clamps his necktie so that Scott can get across the hard swallowing. Pure genius observation, lol!
I love it! This reminds me so much of the "we are all customers of each other," "let's take ownership," and all the other "let's" and "we" motivational movements in the workplace.
Unless the boss is truly on your side (which in my moments of cynicism I suppose can happen only if the boss is the owner) never trust the "we"... it's always a feint for manipulation.
This is the underlying error in manipulative management:Â the creation of fictions that can be easily deconstructed with a reductio ad absurdum. It may work for 18-year-old draftees (at least enough of them to keep order), but it rarely inspires creative, cooperative work among adults.
Asok is asked the one question no one ever asks in any company. Once the PHB manages to deal with the trauma of this, the imperial cup of coffee may be whizzing Asok's way ASAP.