We have met the enemy and he is Powerpoint :from NYTimes.

When shown this slide in a briefing on the war Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, US Commander in Afghanistan is reported to have said:

"When we understand this slide, we will have won the war!"

The NYT article linked below is a full-on criticism of the dependence of our organizational culture on PowerPoint - joining Edward Tufte in his earlier criticism of our dependence on PPT as a substitute for critical thinking, presentation and writing.

Here's what Tufte had to say in 2005:

"The record for incremental reform in the cognitive style of PowerPoint is not promising. In the many release versions of PP, the intellectual level has not been raised. New releases have drifted toward ingrown self-parody, featuring ever more elaborated PP Phluff and presenter therapy. These changes have made the new version different from the previous version, but not smarter. There are no incentives for meaningful change in a monopoly product with an 86% gross profit margin, only incentives to make it different, somehow, from the previous release. PP competes only with itself."

THe NYT article should be required reading for the world of PPT devotees.


Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint - NYTimes.com: