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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Smashing-baby on 2025-02-26 11:29:09+00:00.
A few years ago I was working at a company where the CEO was a kind of "tech-bro" on steroids - he was absolutely obsessed with "disruption", like something fierce. Kept sending out emails about how we MUST think outside the box, and "push the boundaries of innovation." (direct quote, it's been burned into my memory).
He also had a stack of approved templates that he brought with him from god knows where, and they had to be used for any and all presentations or reports. They were outdated, clunky, and pretty ugly, too, but he insisted they were ESSENTIAL for maintaining a "consistent brand image."
One day, I was tasked with creating a presentation for a major client meeting, which isn't my job, at all, but "Synergy" (another one of his buzzwords). My protests that it was taking me away from what I actually had to do were not heard, and I was told to get cracking on this presentation.
After taking a look at the godawful template he wanted me to use, I had an idea. I decided to take the CEO's words to heart and think outside the box within the confines of the template. I drew a large box in the center of the PowerPoint slide, and then I filled every slide with text, OUTSIDE of the box I drew.
When I presented it to the client, they were confused but polite. The CEO, however, was NOT thrilled. It was clear he hadn't actually looked at the presentation himself before the meeting, and was just happy that he got me to write the presentation.
I since left that place for greener pastures, where the presentations look nicer, but I don't really care since no one is asking me to draw up presentations in the first place