A Business ADD Society?

The other day I was at work and received an email request for a briefing on a certain subject, but instead of a verbal briefing this was requested in written form. Not a problem, I will type up a memo and get it out ASAP, but here was the catch they wanted it in PowerPoint format. I am sorry, let me make sure I understand this correctly, you want me to create slides to explain the full implications of a proposed event, the alternate options and the full evaluations of all said options in the form of a bullets on PowerPoint slides? Lets put that aside for a moment, on the plane flying back from my trip in New York I was sitting next to a high priced leader of a major pharmaceutical company who was reading results from some study (seats are very close together). He had printed what appeared to be over 100 slides, each with no more than 5 or 6 bullets on each one.

Have we lost the ability to actually read briefs in paragraph format, have we lost the ability to take the time and actually read versus skimming? Do we have business ADD, or attention deficit disorder? When our great country was founded and important matters of state were being decided, tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of words were written to help understand the full implications of a proposal. These were written as essays to newspapers that nearly every citizen read to help form their opinion. Now we have newspapers like the USA Today consisting almost exclusively from pretty pictures and articles no longer than a couple hundred words. I can’t remember the last time I received a submission from a business associate in word format as compared to slides. Have video games and television eliminated our ability to calmly sit down and read through an entire brief to help make decisions? It certainly appears we are moving in that direction.

On lighter notes, we are still receiving no end to rain here in CA, with record number of days in March numbering at 26. We are dripping from every port, water pooling at every intersection. The positive result is that every hill, lawn and tiny piece of dirt on the side of the road is the most brilliant green ever seen in natural vegetation. Truly this is the CA we know and love, at least when it is not a downpour. Which leads to a small gripe, bad drivers. Now bad drivers is nothing new, nor is the lack of utilization of tiny feature only available apparently on low end vehicles, that being a turn signal. Driving home today in an absolute downpour I am ok with vehicles not using their headlights, granted I can’t see you until I am right on your grill, but ok you might have simply forgotten like I have once before. But slamming between lanes without so much as a warning from a blinker, well that is just plain rude. To be honest I am ok with someone cutting me off, as long as they had the decency to let me know that they are cutting me off, a simple signal. Alas, it is not to be for some.

So it is not just an edition of complaints, I actually need to expand on some of the positive highlights this weekend brought about. Due in no small part to 6 moves and a senior age of over 12 years my bike had seen much better days. With brakes, derailer, and gears shot requiring replacement it was cost effective to simply replace the bike. Well a not so short shopping expedition later and I walked away with a very nice average mountain bike. I promptly took advantage of a short pause in the daily downpour to take it for a modest test ride of 12 miles. Man it feels good to be back on the saddle again. Ok maybe not the saddle itself, those cheeks are not used to those seats, but otherwise what a rush! That was followed by a trip to the Monterey Aquarium with two of my closest friends in CA. The fishes were slippery, the sharks filled with teeth, but the company was both entertaining and riveting. I have to say it is an absolute pleasure having friends here that I love spending time with and going places. Next stop, maybe a trip to Disneyland, or maybe we should just stick with the zoo?