The Point of Power

May 12, 2006 by Sanjay.

Anyone that regularly attends professional conferences is likely familiar with Peter Norvig’s Gettysburg Address on PowerPoint, a satirical spoof illustrating the ridiculous level of simplification that PowerPoint straitjackets presentations into.  Following an early-morning conversation with my wife about her new project management responsibilities, I got to thinking about the unnatural power of simplification. She who simplifies, persuades. She who persuades, sets the agenda. She who sets the agenda, runs the show. PowerPoint runs the show like nothing else!

Norvig’s page led me to a very thought-provoking New Yorker article on the topic of PowerPoint. Like many New Yorker articles, it’™s an entertaining read. (And like many New Yorker articles, it exposes a flabby middle a la Palo Alto soccer moms in tank tops and capris. Lit-poli magazine writers apparently don’t understand that completeness in the pursuit of illumination is no virtue. Perhaps they get paid by the word… But I digress.)

The “€œPowerPoint problem” has invaded most commercial organizations, especially in terms of how important decisions are made. Most work presentations of any consequence are summations. They justify previously taken decisions. They don’t invite either debate or consensus. A sullen gloom pervades the boardroom… but I have a mortgage to keep, and miles to fly before I sleep.

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