Member-only story
The Worst PowerPoint Slide in the World
An analysis of how the 2009 Afghanistan COIN map is a perfect entry point for a discussion on the limits of human cognition versus the promise of algorithmic synthesis.
The slide
In 2009, the UK firm PA Consulting Group gave a presentation on COunter INsurgency (COIN) strategies to be considered for Afghanistan to General Stanley McChrystal, who was then the Commander of US and ISAF forces in the country. When this slide popped up on the screen, he interrupted the presentation and quipped that “once we understand this slide, we will have won the war.”
Since then, this slide has been regarded as one of the best examples of how NOT to illustrate a point in a presentation.
But here’s my point: I like it. There is no better way to summarise in one diagram the extent of the arguably deluded belief that Afghanistan could be “pacified” under a Western set of ideals. In my mind, it also serves another great purpose: to show how trains of thought are connected, and, in the context of AI, show where the issues emerge in the search for better ways to dissect a problem to find a path to its solution.
