Sound Advise: Free Your Thoughts From Bullet Points

Richard Rumelt, a professor of strategy at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, in an interview with the McKinsey Quarterly says:

If I had my way, small [strategy] groups would be absolutely prohibited from doing PowerPoint presentations! Using bullet points so much drives out thinking. One of the nice features of PowerPoint is how fast you can create a presentation. But that’s the trouble. People end up with bullet points that contradict one another, and no one notices! It is simply amazing.

If you ask a group to put aside the bullet points and just write three coherent paragraphs about what is changing in an industry and why, the difference is incredible. Having to link your thoughts, giving reasons and qualifications, makes you a more careful thinker — and a better communicator.

That’s exactly the reason why I use pen and paper while developing a strategy, be it on any topic. The freedom and creativity that pen and paper offer is unmatchable. Subsequently, if not using PowerPoint is not an option, your bullet points will at least be coherent.

Be warned though. The rest of the article is peppered with bad jargon such as “value denials” and “strategy dynamics.”