Death by Power Point in the military
The most popular article right now
on the New York Times’ website is about the U.S. military’s overuse of Power Point presentations:
Last year when a military Web site, Company Command, asked an Army platoon leader in Iraq, Lt. Sam Nuxoll, how he spent most of his time, he responded, “Making PowerPoint slides.” When pressed, he said he was serious.
“I have to make a storyboard complete with digital pictures, diagrams and text summaries on just about anything that happens,” Lieutenant Nuxoll told the Web site. “Conduct a key leader engagement? Make a storyboard. Award a microgrant? Make a storyboard.”
In this 2005 story I did about soldiers’ media training at Fort Drum, troops spoke grudgingly about “death by Power Point”. Most everything learned not out on the training fields and firing ranges comes from a Power Point presentation.
I found this odd, especially when it came to post-deployment screening for combat-related trauma. In both of these stories, people in charge of soldiers’ mental health describe Power Point presentations as a principle method for teasing out PTSD-related issues. It just seemed too impersonal for a mental health challenge that’s so emotional and stigmatized to be effective.
The Times article also cites a blog post from a Fort Drum soldier, Captain Crispin Burke. When asked to do an interview over the phone, Burke e-mailed the paper:
“I would be free tonight, but unfortunately, I work kind of late (sadly enough, making PPT slides).”
Edward Tufte must be having a good laugh over this one.
It is true. From experience in the Pentagon Power Point bounded the thinking of staff officers and decision makers. It was the most frustrating and demotivating aspect to the 5 years of duty I did there. To survive the tours I had to become a “Power Point Ranger” with “Icon V”. But I could see that thinking stifled and everyone became lost in quibbling about font, arrows, and “what the slide means”. It continues to be sad.
..what about music? i think powerpoint slides set to a snappy tune would be wonderful….