The origin of “flair”?
Every Organizational Behavior scholar’s favorite cult flick: Office Space.
JOANNA Wow. This place is really nice.
PETER Yeah, is it?
JOANNA Oh my God, compared to Chotchkie’s. I like the uniforms better anyways.
PETER I like yours.
JOANNA Nah. (makes a face)
Peter looks at the buttons JOANNA is wearing on her suspenders . One says “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” The one underneath says “POOF”.
PETER “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”
JOANNA Yeah. Really. (laughs)
PETER It’s on your – (points at buttons)
JOANNA Oh! That’s, uh, that’s uh, my pieces of flair.
PETER What are pieces of flair?
JOANNA That’s where you know, suspenders and buttons and all sorts of stuff.
We’re, uh, we’re actually required to wear fifteen pieces of flair.
quite stupid actually.
PETER Do you get to pick them out yourself?
JOANNA Yeah. Yeah. Although I didn’t actually choose these. I, uh, I just
grabbed fifteen buttons and, uh, I don’t even know what they say!
Y’know, I don’t really care. I don’t really like talking about my
flair.
PETER Ok.
On another day, we’ll consider why 15 pieces of flair matter more than just one.
I am an organizational consultant, change advocate, and organizational identity/reputation scholar with a PhD in leadership & organizations. I research, write about, and consult with organizations on the relationships between organizational identity, actions, and purpose. I teach Technology Management, part-time, at Stevens Institute of Technology.
My current research focuses on how social technologies in the workplace can drive organizational change, generate meaning, and catalyze purpose. See the 






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