Scott Adams, the creator of the satirical comic strip Dilbert, died on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at the age of 68. Marking the end of a career that left a lasting imprint on how engineers and technologists understand organizational dysfunction. For much of my professional career, Adams occupied a unique and, frankly, useful place in the engineering world. Through Dilbert, he became a satirist of corporate dysfunction, an informal organizational theorist, and a cultural translator between engineers and executives. His work gave voice to frustrations that many technical professionals experienced daily but struggled to articulate within hierarchical organizations

Boeing’s recent safety issues highlight how small, accepted risks can accumulate into enterprise-level failure. This article explores what Boeing’s experience teaches systems engineers about risk aggregation, tolerance, culture, and governance—and why disciplined, integrated risk management is essential in complex systems.