PowerPoint of Afghan War Strategy

eldavojohn writes "Disillusioned by PowerPoint at work? Some members of the US Military view it as 'an internal threat.' Marine Corps General James N. Mattis says, 'PowerPoint makes us stupid,' reaching the same conclusion NASA came to back in 2003. But nothing speaks to this more than the spaghetti-bowl PowerPoint slide of the US Military's strategy in the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The slide causes anyone's eyes to glaze over with confusion so much that General McChrystal jokingly stated when he saw it, 'When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war.' At my job, I know that feeling all too well."

Comments

PowerPoint makes us stupid

[ls671]

"PowerPoint makes us stupid"

Does it really take a General to tell us that ? ;-))

Re:PowerPoint makes us stupid

[eln]

Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.

Damn, talk about a lesson this country badly needs to learn. Oh wait, he was talking about Power Point bullets...never mind.

Re:PowerPoint makes us stupid

[UziBeatle]

qoombah99 blurted: "One more thing: Always label the axes on a plot dammit. and then always tell people in words what the axes are BEFORE you tell them what the plot says."

  Is this the US military your advising? Do they still use a lot of axes?
    Sounds like good advice though. I'd hate for some grunt to confuse
    F Wood Axe for chopping wood.

    F Tosser Axe for wood shaving

    F Fire Axe (For hitting fire with)

    F Hurlbat (just to confuse em).

    F Danish Axe (Often found in upper end pastry shops)

    F Axis Axe (Used to prune excess axes down to a single axis)

I don't know if this is true

[gyrogeerloose]

but it sure would be great if this were the beginning of the end of unnecessary PowerPoint presentations. I can't think of many times when I saw one that was actually helpful.

Afghanistan victory strategy

[Eunuchswear]

1. bomb Taliban positions with solar powered laptops running Windows7 with powerpoint installed
2. Victory
3. ...
4. Experience horrible unplanned of blow-back.

Knowledge Limited

[SendBot]

That spaghetti slide has a copyright notice at the bottom, "PA Knowledge Limited 2009"

There must be a joke about oxymorons and military intelligence in here somewhere.

best line of TFA

[Anonymous Coward]

Senior officers say the program does come in handy when the goal is not imparting information, as in briefings for reporters.

Not bullet-izable

[myrrdyn]

From the article:

General McMaster said in a telephone interview afterward. “Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.”

Oh, man... the irony

Re:Not bullet-izable

[TheKidWho]

Yeah, some require rockets.

I don't know...

[wigaloo]

...if PowerPoint makes you stupid, but I sure feel dumber having read that article.

I am reminded of a famous anonymous quote...

[Old Sparky]

"Powerpoint absorbs huge amounts of time that management, marketeers, and other suits might otherwise
  spend doing real harm."

Gettysburg Presentation

[adavies42]

A classic: The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation.