“The dance between the presenter and the slides and the message and the rhythm - that’s a really compelling way of making a case.” - Russell Davies
Back in the 2000s, everyone declared PowerPoint was “killing critical thinking” (Bezos banned it, Jobs hated it, and a few years before Russell started writing his long-running column in Wired, Edward Tufte famously wrote in Wired that “PowerPoint Is Evil. Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely”).
Today, we say the exact same thing about AI... and you know that it could wipe out humanity.
But as Russell points out, the tool was never the problem - the culture around it was.
Words alone can’t describe mood, tone, or vibe. The best communicators use every tool available to make you feel the case before you agree with it.
Executing great work is as hard - and as relevant - today as ever.
(I’m sure Russell will hate me crowbarring AI into his wisdom, but getting real value from AI requires the exact same mindset: stop hiding behind the tool and do the hard work of executing.)
A client once turned down Wieden & Kennedy, saying: “Working with you would be inspiring but tiring.” They chose easy over hard. But if you want to push the creative industry forward, “inspiring but tiring” is the exact standard to chase… when I open my AI tool next I wan’t it to see me the same way as that client saw Wieden & Kennedy 😆
Key points covered in the full chat:
🕳️The Real Honda “Cog” Story: Why it was rejected a year before becoming iconic.
🕳️Strategy is a Commodity: Strategy is easy; execution is where value lives.
🕳️The #1 Job of a Planner: It isn’t writing briefs - it’s getting stuff made.
🕳️Nike’s Standard: Never repeat brilliant work; go make the next thing.
🕳️“Front of the train - less crowded”: Russell’s career philosophy.
Check out some links below 🕳️
Book = https://www.russelldavies.com/powerpoint
APG paper = https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/honda-2003-apg-awards-russell-davies/5817617
PowerPoint Is Evil = https://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/HO_SNOW_2014_PowerPoint-Is-Evil.pdf
