"What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who's going to do what and how we're going to achieve the generic goals on the list"
About this Quote
His phrase “narrative between the bullets” is deceptively pointed. Narrative means time, agency, and consequence. It forces you to answer unglamorous questions: Who decides? What happens first? What resources get moved? What’s the dependency chain? Bullets erase those details by flattening complex systems into parallel statements, all presented as equally true and equally achievable. That’s why Tufte calls the goals “generic”: lists are especially hospitable to ambition without commitment, the kind of language that survives meetings precisely because it can’t be audited later.
The context is Tufte’s broader critique of PowerPoint-ified communication, where visual packaging and managerial optimism displace analytical rigor. He’s not nostalgic for long-winded prose; he’s demanding evidence and logic. The subtext is harsher: when organizations default to bullets, they aren’t just choosing a style. They’re choosing deniability. The missing narrative isn’t a gap in presentation; it’s a gap in responsibility.
Quote Details
| Topic | Vision & Strategy |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: PRINT Magazine: Q+A – Edward Tufte (Edward Tufte, 2007)
Evidence: What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who’s going to do what and how we’re going to achieve the generic goals on the list.. Primary source located: this wording appears as part of Edward Tufte’s answer in a Q&A interview published by PRINT Magazine on December 27, 2007. In the interview, he’s describing earlier consulting work for IBM and criticizing bullet-list presentations for omitting the explanatory ‘narrative’ that assigns responsibility and explains implementation. I did not find an earlier primary publication (book/article/transcript) that contains this exact sentence; many later quote-aggregator sites repeat it without sourcing. A Swedish blog post (Jan 2004) reproduces the same passage and claims it came from a New York Times item and/or an iDonline interview, but I have not verified that earlier primary source text directly. Other candidates (1) ID (2003) compilation97.9% ... What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets , which would tell us who's going to do what and how we'r... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Tufte, Edward. (2026, February 13). What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who's going to do what and how we're going to achieve the generic goals on the list. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-gets-left-out-is-the-narrative-between-the-122108/
Chicago Style
Tufte, Edward. "What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who's going to do what and how we're going to achieve the generic goals on the list." FixQuotes. February 13, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-gets-left-out-is-the-narrative-between-the-122108/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who's going to do what and how we're going to achieve the generic goals on the list." FixQuotes, 13 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-gets-left-out-is-the-narrative-between-the-122108/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
