27 April 2009

Creativity and Powerpoints - perspectives in the NYT

Two articles caught my eye in the online edition of the New York Times.

1 - "Real creative urges, those we are meant to express, don’t go away. If ignored, they bother us, affect our health, fester and eventually turn us into the living dead." Pamela Slim writing about why recessions can be a good chance to reassess your values, and chase a career dream.


2 - Interviewed by Adam Bryant, Richard Anderson CEO of Delta Airlines emphasises why speaking and writing skills have never been more important for executives.

Other points from the interview:
  • Blackberries should be off in meetings.
  • Be a problem-solver, not a problem-creator... don’t bring a Rubik’s cube to the table, unless you have an idea on how you’re going to try to get an answer"
  • "It’s not just enough to be able to just do a nice PowerPoint presentation. ... You’ve got to have the ability to communicate."
  • "When you find really capable people, it’s amazing how they proliferate capable people all through your organization." (This is reminiscent of Jim Collins' "Good to Great" - get the right people on the bus"
  • "I don’t think PowerPoints help people think as clearly as they should because you don’t have to put a complete thought in place. You can just put a phrase with a bullet in front of it. And it doesn’t have a subject, a verb and an object, so you aren’t expressing complete thoughts."
  • "good history books are the best books on management"

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