Is the process or tool screwed up ?
More verbosely,
Is the tool (PowerPoint) the problem; or is the process (one hammer wielder striking all the nails on his floor - and all the nails on the floors below) the problem ?
Quote:
(from TXH)
The last point, how we make decisions, is the most obvious. Before PowerPoint, staffs prepared succinct two- or three-page summaries of key issues. The decision-maker would read a paper, have time to think it over and then convene a meeting with either the full staff or just the experts involved to discuss the key points of the paper. Of course, the staff involved in the discussion would also have read the paper and had time to prepare to discuss the issues. In contrast, today, a decision-maker sits through a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation followed by five minutes of discussion and then is expected to make a decision. Compounding the problem, often his staff will have received only a five-minute briefing from the action officer on the way to the presentation and thus will not be well-prepared to discuss the issues. This entire process clearly has a toxic effect on staff work and decision-making.
....
PowerPoint has clearly decreased the quality of the information provided to the decision-maker, but the damage doesn’t end there. It has also changed the culture of decision-making. In my experience, pre-PowerPoint staffs prepared two to four decision papers a day because that’s as many as most bosses would accept. These would be prepared and sent home with the decision-maker and each staff member that would participate in the subsequent discussion. Because of the tempo, most decision-makers did not take on more than three or four a day simply because of the requirement to read, absorb, think about and then be prepared to discuss the issue the following day. As an added benefit for most important decisions, they “slept on it.”
PowerPoint has changed that. Key decision-makers’ days are now broken down into one-hour and even 30-minute segments that are allocated for briefs. Of particular concern, many of these briefs are decision briefs. Thus senior decision-makers are making more decisions with less preparation and less time for thought. Why we press for quick decisions when those decisions will take weeks or even months to simply work their way through the bureaucracy at the top puzzles me. One of the critical skills in decision making is making the decision cycle and method appropriate to the requirements. If a decision takes weeks or months to implement and will be in effect for years, then a more thoughtful process is clearly appropriate.
This brings me to the third major concern with PowerPoint’s impact on our decision process: Who makes the decisions? Because the PowerPoint culture allows decision-makers to schedule more briefs per day, many type-A personalities seek to do so. Most organizations don’t need more decisions made at higher levels. But to find more decisions to make, a type-A leader has to reach down to lower levels to find those decisions. The result is the wrong person is making decisions at the wrong level.
Is the last sentence the crux of the problem ?
Where (if at all) do the people who have to execute the decision fit into the process which TXH describes ?
It will also steal your girlfriend
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jmm99
Is the last sentence the crux of the problem ?
Where (if at all) do the people who have to execute the decision fit into the process which TXH describes ?
PowerPoint might facilitate the micro-manager's task, but doesn't create micro-managers where they didn't exist before. I was a bit perplexed at that point. The fault may be mine.
I wonder if the author really does hold PowerPoint accountable for the wrongs of its users, or is merely being more circumspect (another trait of the military professional) than others would (me, f'rinstance) given the opportunity.
The frustrations of bureacracy....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ken White
War story. Decision brief to FORSCOM Cdr, three briefers. New high tech (then) computerized projector.. First briefer halfway through, black box breaks. Cdr says to the three COLS at the table, "No problem, you guys just talk me through it." Looks of stark panic. Much fumbling with paper copies of slides. Panic level increases when they realize they have their slides but no one else's while the Boss has all three sets. When the first one started talking, turned to call on his Briefer and El Commandante said "No, I want your thoughts on it." the panic was replaced by three looks of sheer terror. It sort of went downhill from there. Very entertaining for all us horse holders along the wall... :wry:
I'm not a T.X. Hammes fan but he's right on the money with that one, particularly on the decision levels broached -- as is Greyhawk with the perils of top level e-mail.
Word. Talent not rank :)
v/r
Mike
It's not in the style book, but...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Entropy
Greyhawk,
... but the article came across to me as a criticism of how powerpoint is used and not the program itself.
Para two: "Make no mistake, PowerPoint is not a neutral tool — it is actively hostile to thoughtful decision-making. It has fundamentally changed our culture by altering the expectations of who makes decisions, what decisions they make and how they make them. While this may seem to be a sweeping generalization, I think a brief examination of the impact of PowerPoint will support this statement."
Then he goes on to explain its abuse and misuse, which - were it not for that initial polite caveat of a thesis statement - some might mistakenly interpret as an attack on those who are doing so. I suspect his point is as you say it is - his arguments clearly lead me to that conclusion - and that's a point with which we'd all agree (but with which many - or someone? - might be highly offended).
I don't think we need worry about an outright ban. The more likely solution is a PowerPoint in every inbox explaining the right and wrong uses of PowerPoint. :rolleyes:
It's all been said but not everybody's said it
In the spirit of not repeating what has all been said, the one hammer statement is on point. However, I am seeing the other Office tools be used in similar fashion. Access Databases and Excel files are being created because we have failed to keep systems up with the enemies pace. Excel is being used for funding because we don't know how to make work compute formulas. Microsoft designed each tool for a purpose, and the DoD has taken each and whored it to the maximum extent possible.
The most important thing we could do is demonstrate to commanders how Office could work effectively, and then enforce it. Imagine - read aheads in Word, briefings in PowerPoint, and computations in Excel - Incredible.
Trees Falling in a Digital World; Communications Incommunicado
One other curiosity is the need to print read ahead and table slides for the group. I might understand read ahead slides if there was something to read and I especially love the use of embedded video and sound to make the main point--that really jumps out of a paper slide. :rolleyes:
As for table slides, the big guns get full color single frame; the lesser lights get double slides as an eye test. The non-players of course have to look at the damn screen--which is what everyone is supposed to do.
The tragedy in this is that it is killing written communications skills in the military and that in turn is killing verbal skills. I hear and see mission statements that are so garbled and jumbled with gerunds, passive voice, and useless helpers such as IOT (in order to --which means "to" and should be used sparingly for emphasis) that the actual mission gets lost.
A mission statement in passive voice with no "by whom"...from SAMS grads! :eek:
I loath ppt like the rest
I could, and have written, pages on why powerpoint is the bane of Army existence. I have one point to show why it is unneccessary. The Taliban and Anti-Iraqi Forces have fought our coalitions in two countries to utter standstills. Yet, they don't have powerpoint, word or excel!
Nothing new under the sun
From Army magazine, published about six years ago, an article on mastering powerpoint:
http://www3.ausa.org/webint/DeptArmy...id/CCRN-6CCS9J
In Re to Bill and Schmedlap
Bill first... I agree that an elegant powerpoint slide can in fact paint a 1000 words and when it does it should be employed that way... which is why I added the caveat that its OK to deviate from the guidelines but it should be done with eyes wide open and it should be the exception rather than the rule... I think we are in violent agreement
Schmedlap... I should have been clearer in my word usage... when I say junior leader I'm referring to a leader/commander briefing his superior... that extends all the way from SL to Div CDR... I also found the desire for WoW factor to go up as the responsibility for building the slide themselves went down... so again we are in violent agreement...
My experience is that when the senior leader sets the precedent that slides are...
1. Black and White
2. Max of 5 bullets per slide
3. No extraneous pictures/clip art
It may take some time but it allows folks to focus on content, and when they do "break the rules" its for a very good reason (e.g. painting a 1000 words)
Live well and row
Recently discovered, previously mentioned gem, ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hacksaw
the best use of powerpoint IMHO was the brief assembled by the young MI CPT (later died in combat) "How to Win in Anbar" or something close... simple and elegant... words amplified the pictures
How to win in Anbar by Cpt Travis Patriquin and the article Anbar Awakens: The Tipping Point in Military Review (April 2008 in Archives; link appears to be snooty) that places it in context.