Does anyone want to hear my theory about PowerPoint? No? Well, I’m sharing it anyway.
Why do so many businesses rely on PowerPoint? Why are slide decks so ubiquitous, and why do they often spiral out of control? I stumbled onto this question years ago when I was a senior partner at an internet professional consulting firm. Coming from the advertising world, I was shocked. Agencies I worked with rarely touched PowerPoint. Yet, in consulting, decks were *everything*. So, I dug deeper.
I spoke with senior partners who’d cut their teeth at top-tier consulting firms like McKinsey. They shared some eye-opening stories about a strategy called “Up or Out.” Here’s how it worked: these firms would recruit the top 10 graduates from elite universities, pay them well (or well enough), and bring them into the fold with a clear directive. “Work hard for a year,” they’d say. “We’ll judge your performance. One of you will move up in the organization. The other nine? You’re out.”
The prize for the chosen one? A fast track to senior partner—lucrative salary, prestigious work, and high-profile clients. The catch? For that year, those 10 recruits would pour their hearts and souls into one thing: building PowerPoint decks. The term “deck” itself came from how teams would divide and conquer, with different people contributing slides that staff would later “shuffle” into a cohesive presentation.
After a year, nine of those bright-eyed grads were let go. Where did they end up? Many landed in packaged goods, banking, or other corporate roles—sadly, rarely in agencies. Here’s the kicker: these folks often had no real-world business experience before university. After graduating, they spent a year in the “Up or Out” pressure cooker, where their entire job was crafting decks. That’s all they knew.
This, I believe, is why PowerPoint has proliferated across corporate America. These graduates, steeped in the art of the slide deck, carried that habit into their new roles, spreading decks like wildfire.
Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m not anti-PowerPoint. I know how to use it, and more importantly, I know *when* to use it. I spoke with folks at Microsoft, who clarified that PowerPoint isn’t primarily a communication tool. It’s designed to explain complex systems—think intricate processes or technical diagrams. But in too many companies, it’s become a crutch, bloated with animated phrases zipping in, dancing bunnies, and other distracting flourishes.
When I was lecturing, I convinced several companies to ditch PowerPoint for simpler tools like Word when communication was the goal. One American Express region took my advice and saved significant time and resources by dropping decks. MasterCard, another client, followed suit and reportedly saved millions in a single quarter. (I wish I’d kept that email!) They also adopted my “no meetings” philosophy—or at least, a smarter approach to meetings. If you must have one, set a clear time, duration, and agenda, invite only the relevant people, and circulate a document beforehand to address questions.
The lesson? PowerPoint has its place, but it’s not the answer to every business problem. Let’s stop wasting time on throbbing graphics and endless slides. Focus on clear communication, and your business—and your sanity—will thank you.