One lesson I learned at McKinsey — “Never go to a meeting without a polished presentation.”
Before the meeting, everybody might say, “It is just a brainstorming session — the slides don’t have to look good. Just bring whatever you have.”
But don’t listen to them — go with a polished deck, even if the meeting is just a day after the project kick-off.
I found that what people said and what they did was totally different. When the deck looked unfinished, people would do more fault-finding. But a polished deck with the exact same content was received more gleefully.
But this is also dangerous because it shows a cognitive bias we humans have — when our aesthetic sense is tickled, we become less critical and ask fewer questions.
In fact, that might be why some really successful companies don’t allow PowerPoint presentations and instead, insist on long-form text documents for internal discussions.
I have nothing against PowerPoint or clean presentations — they help communicate with clarity and move you to action. But the danger of ‘good looks’ does exist.
We ought not to conflate look and feel with substance — be it evaluating a presentation, a job candidate, or even a company.
Yet, we keep doing it.
– Rajan