These days PowerPoint has become an accepted common “language” in much of the corporate world and government world, not just in Seattle. An entire generation of people has been trained to expect that life can always be presented as 10 to 20 neat slides, each containing four or five bullet points, or notable graphics or photos, and this is subtly changing the way we think, talk and plan. Conversation is becoming more “level” and informal; after all, it is hard to deliver a solemn sermon with an interactive graph. But modern corporate life is increasingly using images – not solemn texts – to communicate ideas. Indeed, the more that words proliferate on our computer screens (and BlackBerries or smartphones) the more people assume that text alone is dull: diagrams, pictures, whiteboard scribbles – or Post-it notes – are needed to grab attention.

This will distress anybody who prefers the written word, but to me it seems liberating. Next time you step into an office – or any other institution – try looking at what is hanging on the walls or lying on the desks. And think twice before wiping that whiteboard clean. It contains more messages than you know.

Corporate anthropology FTW...