"PowerPoint makes us stupid"

A quote from General James N. Mattis of the Marine Corps, Joint Forces commander - - as quoted in the the April 27, 2010 edition of The New York Times in an article entitled, "We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint." The focus of the article is the attached PowerPoint slide illustrating Afghanistan Stability/COIN Dynamics - - to which General McChrystal remarked, "When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war."

The other points of the article include the following:

• Slides can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control.
• Some problems of the world are not bullet-izable.
• Many feel slides can stifle discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making.
• The preparation of slides can tie up huge amounts of time.
• General Petraeus likes the focus of slides to be maps and statistics.
• Richard Holbrooke, the administration's regional special representative, recently was given a presentation by Italian forces set to orchestral music.
• Imagine lawyers presenting arguments before the Supreme Court utilizing slides instead of legal briefs.
• Watch for the world of fuzzy bullet points.