[chrismorgan]

Seeing the mention of Round Hand reminded me of Gilbert & Sullivan’s description in H.M.S. Pinafore of the importance of handwriting if, like Sir Joseph Porter K.C.B., you want to rise to the top of the tree:

  As office boy I made such a mark
  That they gave me the post of a junior clerk.
  I served the writs with a smile so bland,
  And I copied all the letters in a big round hand—
      I copied all the letters in a hand so free,
      That now I am the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!

[casey2]

The satire here is clear, that naval skill isn't necessary to run the navy but rather skill in some trivial and unrelated clerical task (along with political connections)

The problem comes then when people see this, don't recognize it as corruption, and waste their time learning useless skills. In a large org productivity losses from this are non trivial.

[IAmBroom]

I read a very serious article about how the path to promotion in today's US Armed Forces is skill in Powerpoint, ubiquitously used for daily reports up the chain.

[psunavy03]

As a retired officer, this is at best tangentially true for warfighting roles. The more senior you get, the more you end up in staff and headquarters roles where plans and reporting become more of your role than direct operations.

But to get there you have to compete and succeed in a stack-ranked promotion system where your tactical and operational skills are what set you apart.

[bluGill]

The us has been enough 'i can't believe it isn't a wars' lately that competence has some bearing, though powerpoint likely is valued too much.