Why Your Meeting Format Matters More Than You Think
Jeff Bezos banned slides. Steve Jobs loved them. This article explores how documents and slides engage different cognitive systems—and how smart leaders use each format to drive clarity and alignment.
When Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoint at Amazon in favor of six-page narrative memos, it wasn't just an eccentric whim. It was a deliberate effort to shape how his organization thought. The same was true when Steve Jobs insisted on visual presentations at Apple.
These leaders understood something profound: the medium shapes the message in ways most of us don't fully appreciate.
The slide versus document debate often gets dismissed as a matter of taste or company tradition. But look deeper and you'll find a fundamental truth about human cognition that smart leaders have always understood - Different formats activate different thinking modes in our brains.
Two Systems of Thought
Daniel Kahneman's work on "Thinking, Fast and Slow" gives us the perfect lens for understanding this dynamic. Our brains operate using two distinct cognitive systems.
System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional. It's your lizard brain—the part that understands a logo instantly, feels inspired by a mission statement, just "gets it" when a concept clicks. System 1 absorbs without effort, but what it takes in leaves a lasting impression that colors everything else you experience.
System 2 works slowly, deliberately, and logically. This is the part that reads financial projections, evaluates competing hypotheses, and works through complex arguments. System 2 requires mental effort and careful analysis.
Here's where this gets practical: slides trigger System 1, while documents engage System 2.
Understanding this connection gives us a powerful framework for choosing the right format. It's not about which format is "better." —It's about which cognitive system you need to engage.
When Documents Unlock Better Outcomes
Amazon forces teams to write six-page memos before meetings to deliberately slow down thought. Writing demands structured thinking. You can't hide fuzzy logic in a narrative document like you can behind a bullet point. The very act of writing sentences forces clarity.
A delivery company I worked with transformed their weekly status meetings by switching from slides to written reports. Before the change, teams presented beautiful slides filled with charts, but discussions stayed superficial. After switching to written reports, team members arrived with deeper thinking already done. What looked like a simple format change actually transformed the quality of the discussions.
This works because writing activates System 2 thinking. Writing a document forces precision. The flow of paragraphs demands logical structure. The permanence of written words encourages careful consideration.
Documents work best when:
The situation demands methodical thinking. When we were evaluating AI algorithms at Ozlo, written documents proved essential because technical performance details required careful examination, not emotional buy-in.
Decisions carry significant implications. Complex decisions with major financial consequences demand thorough reasoning that documents forces out into the open.
For those interested in mastering the written format, excellent resources exist on Amazon's approach. The original concept came from Bezos's 2004 email explaining that narrative structure forces better thought (Amazon Chronicles). The key practice is reading these documents silently at the start of meetings before any discussion begins.
When Slides Create Alignment
Slides have earned a bad reputation from decades of misuse. But used properly, they activate System 1 thinking to create powerful alignment and emotional engagement.
During a growth phase at that same delivery company, we needed to open operations in a new city. This required dozens of people making hundreds of consistent decisions without constant oversight. Instead of detailed written documentation, we created a slide presentation focused on the "why" of our approach. The visual format simplified everything to core principles that everyone could remember and apply on their own.
This approach works because slides connect directly to System 1. The visual nature triggers pattern recognition. Spatial arrangement creates relationships between ideas. Format constraints force you to prioritize what truly matters.
Slides excel when:
Memory and retention matter most. When you need people to remember three things, don't give them twenty pages.
Visual elements tell the story better than words. For product design discussions, slides naturally showcase elements that would be awkward in documents.
Emotional engagement trumps analytical depth. When launching a new vision, slides create connections that purely written documents often miss.
For those looking to build better presentation skills, Guy Kawasaki's influential 10/20/30 rule offers a practical framework. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I've found his concepts extremely effective at helping craft compelling presentations that resonate with audiences.
My Pattern Across a Dozen Companies
After running or coaching over a dozen companies, I've discovered patterns that consistently produce better results across different meeting types.
Regular update meetings work best with written agendas where everyone contributes their report ahead of time, which we read silently at the beginning. We call these High Performance Meetings. This format ensures everyone arrives with thinking already done, making discussions far more productive.
I ask for documents when someone proposes a major change or decision needing careful consideration. Writing forces clarity and reveals logical gaps that slides often hide.
Slides work better for all-hands meetings, customer presentations, investor pitches, and quarterly updates. These are times when getting people to understand and internalize the core message matters more than examining every detail. My goal is to create a narrative simple enough that people can carry it with them.
Interestingly, the best slides often come from a lot of writing first. The two formats complement rather than compete with each other.
Board materials vary widely across companies. I've seen both formats work well. For board meetings, I typically use a hybrid approach—slides with medium-density information, organized by priority. This lets busy board members quickly scan key points while giving the curious ones enough detail to dig deeper.
Beyond Format Wars
Next time you plan an important meeting, don't default to your usual format. Ask what type of thinking the situation requires.
Need careful analysis? Documents will activate System 2.
Need emotional resonance? Slides will trigger System 1.
Is your goal to make a complex decision? Documents will serve you better.
Is your goal building alignment? Slides will likely win.
The most effective leaders don't just follow company traditions. They understand that format shapes thinking, and they choose formats deliberately based on the cognitive response they want to create.
This approach transforms meetings from information dumps into strategic tools for shaping how your organization thinks. It's never been about slides versus documents. —iIt's about matching your medium to your cognitive goals.