The method is unorthodox but of course it rocks

The people who will tolerate me (an ever-dwindling total) know my deep affection for all things The Office and Phoenix Suns. So, of course, the idea that these two things would meld was always freely floating, waiting to be made manifest. And today is that day.
During last night's loss to the Mavs, I was explaining to some Arizona-bred hardcore Suns fans that their zero-sum focus on result was blinding them to the beauty of the matchup as art or at least excellent diversion. I told them they should be "reveling in process," a turn of phrase for which I was loudly mocked. However, I'm right, obviously, since this is my blog.
And before I get into this, a knowing bow to Freedarko.com, the site that created the idea of making the NBA sound like a grad school thesis and does it better than any imitators, including moi.
Today's post explains how the Suns have left the mythology of the NBA and its orthodox constructs to just do what they do, win or lose, haters be damned. And this has worked. I agree wholeheartedly, and the question is what encapsulates this outside-the-box success. Some have said Moneyball, others have said Nash is a genius.
Threads on the WWW have compared D'Antoni to Popovich in power and guiding wisdom. Or to Tom Skerritt or even Hitler when enraged on the sideline. But none of these hit the mark. D'Antoni's true doppelganger is none other than the British paper industry's least gallant rogue, David Brent. Now scoffers may scoff, since Wernham-Hogg seemed to be a failure on every level as a company under Brent's tenure, but again, those making such quick, ill-considered claims are using result not process.
Quick trust exercise: Take these blind quotes from D'Antoni and Brent and try to pick which came from whom:


1. "We take input for everyone. We cover all the bases here and he's part of the team, another set of eyes."

2. "I don't live by 'The Rules' you know, and if there's one person who has influenced me in that way of thinking, someone who is a maverick, someone who does 'that' to the system then it's Ian Botham."

3. "You will never work in a place like this again. This is brilliant-fact. And you will never have another boss like me. Someone who's basically a chilled out entertainer."

4. “All we do is play to our players' strengths.”

5. "I just wanna go do it this way. If you like. If you don't... Team playing-I call it team individuality, it's a new, it's like a management style. Again guilty, unorthodox, sue me."

6. "Everything we talked about we did. That's why we won. Or, jeez, that's why we came close. I guess I'm in denial."

Maybe you got them, maybe you didn't. The point is that having a good time whilst at work and getting the job done is possible. The Suns do it every night, win or lose. And the credit must go to the man at the top, D'Antoni.