New Delhi, Jan. 14 -- Boardrooms would have been better places had their inmates paid more heed to Scott Adams, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 68. Dilbert-the necktie-wearing, cubicle-bound corporate victim, and Adams's doppelganger-was all the rage among executives through the 1990s.

Sadly, it was for all the wrong reasons.

The comic strip, which appeared in thousands of newspapers around the world, was good for a laugh and a reliable icebreaker at the company do. But its real message-of systemic, institutional incompetence-was lost amid the mirth and chuckles. Much like Shakespeare's fools, who spoke truth to power under the guise of nonsense, Dilbert offered profound insights that went unheeded by a corporate class that pre...