MINISO's 'PPT Ban': An Efficiency Revolution Against Formalism
In the dynamic landscape of global business, a significant shift is underway, one that challenges traditional norms and redefines the way companies operate. MINISO's recent move, under the leadership of its founder Ye Guofu, has sent shockwaves through the industry, sparking a conversation about the future of work and the pursuit of efficiency.
On February 5, 2025, Ye Guofu's New Year's开工 message for employees was more than just a typical communication; it was a revolutionary statement. In this document, hailed by employees as the "Efficiency Revolution Manifesto," MINISO explicitly prohibited the use of PPTs in internal communications and even enshrined the "ban on formalism" in its corporate management system. This seemingly simple change in office tools is, in fact, a profound reflection of a crucial turning point in the evolution of global business civilization. As the economic cycle enters a phase of存量博弈, companies are making a decisive return to the fundamentals of business.
I. The Efficiency Revolution: A Global Corporate Consensus
Ye Guofu's decision is not an isolated incident. It aligns with a growing trend among global corporations to streamline operations and boost efficiency. Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, initiated the "Six-Page Paper Meeting System" as early as 2004. This system mandates that all meeting participants submit a six-page structured document before any meeting, effectively banning the use of PPTs. Despite being considered "anti-human" in Silicon Valley, this rule has led to a remarkable 40% increase in Amazon's meeting efficiency and a 25% reduction in product development cycles.
Similarly, Elon Musk, the visionary CEO of Tesla, in an internal memo in 2022, stated, "If an email is more than three paragraphs long, communicate in person." This directive liberated Tesla's engineers from the quagmire of excessive documentation, enabling the construction of the Berlin factory to be completed in just 14 months, setting a new record in the automotive industry.
Chinese companies have also been at the forefront of this efficiency revolution. ByteDance has implemented "Lark Document Collaboration," replacing traditional reports with interactive smart documents and reducing meeting times by 60%. Alibaba, since the era of Zhang Yong, has promoted the "Three-Page Paper Strategy," requiring all business plans to be distilled into three A4 pages to get to the essence. Huawei's Ren Zhengfei has cautioned against the "PPT culture" that he believes can make intelligent people less effective, while also emphasizing the need for data-driven problem-solving in reports. Behind these seemingly radical reforms lies a deep understanding among entrepreneurs: in the age of information overload, management efficiency has become the linchpin of a company's survival.
II. The Hidden Costs of Formalism: An Accelerator of Organizational Entropy
According to research data from the Boston Consulting Group, on average, Fortune Global 500 companies spend 23% of their employees' working hours each year creating various types of reporting materials. PPT creation alone consumes 15 million hours of employees' time annually, equivalent to a loss of $30 billion in output value. Internal research at MINISO reveals that regional managers are required to produce 8 - 10 PPTs per month, consuming 40% of their effective working hours, and 60% of the content is repetitive and decorative. This "formalistic internal strife" is gradually eroding a company's innovative capabilities.
The consequences extend deeper, affecting cognitive abilities. Research by Microsoft Research has shown that over-reliance on PPTs leads to fragmented thinking, reducing the average employee's attention span from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Walmart, after canceling its weekly report system in 2018, witnessed a 35% increase in the number of creative proposals from its procurement team, demonstrating that simplifying processes can unleash true creativity. This is the underlying logic behind Ye Guofu's emphasis on "returning to the essence of retail." Only when employees are freed from the competition of creating aesthetically pleasing slides can they focus on core value creation activities such as product research and development and supply chain optimization.
III. The Philosophy of Minimalist Management: A New Paradigm for Reconstructing Business Civilization
Pioneers of the global efficiency revolution are establishing a new management paradigm. Toyota's "A3 Report" system requires presenting the essence of a problem on a single page. Derived from lean manufacturing principles, this tool has increased problem-solving efficiency by 70%. Apple's design team adheres to the "One-Page Prototype" principle, where all product concepts must be immediately sketched out, a real-time feedback mechanism that gave birth to the touch revolution of the iPhone. MINISO's requirement for "simple and efficient communication" in this reform is, in essence, an inheritance and innovation of the Toyota-Apple management philosophy.
The reconstruction of digital tools has also injected new impetus into this revolution. Siemens uses the Miro whiteboard software for real-time visual collaboration, reducing project decision-making time by 58%. Meituan promotes a "tree-shaped document structure," replacing linear reports with intelligent outlines and increasing the accuracy of information transfer to 92%. These innovations confirm Drucker's prediction: "The core mission of management in the 21st century is to enable knowledge workers to truly create value."
IV. The Art of Self-Reflective Reform: Balancing Efficiency and Innovation
The efficiency revolution is not without its challenges. Its institutional design often goes against human nature. In the early days of implementing the "5-Minute Elevator Pitch" system at Goldman Sachs, the employee resistance rate reached 73%. In the first quarter after JD.com abolished PPT reports, the management's decision-making error rate temporarily increased by 12%. This highlights the key difficulty of reform: how to maintain decision-making quality while improving efficiency. Samsung's approach is worth emulating. Its "Pyramid Memorandum" requires presenting the same issue in three versions - 5 pages, 3 pages, and 1 page - ensuring both depth and efficiency.
An even deeper challenge lies in reshaping organizational culture. After Netflix abolished its reimbursement approval process, it achieved an 18% reduction in operating costs through a cultural shift towards "managing by context rather than control." This shows that the efficiency revolution is, at its core, a revolution of trust. The success of MINISO's reform will depend on its ability to build a new organizational culture that values "solving problems rather than showcasing skills."
Looking back from the threshold of the new business civilization, from Bezos' six-page paper to Ye Guofu's PPT ban, global companies are using an almost obsessive minimalist approach to counter organizational entropy. The underlying driving force behind this collective choice is the return to the essence of business in the digital economy era. When all the decorative bubbles are burst, only those companies that can continuously create user value will be able to weather the economic cycles. As management guru Henry Mintzberg said, "True strategy is not born from fancy slides, but in the moments of facing the essence directly." This global efficiency revolution will ultimately reshape the survival rules of the business world.
In conclusion, MINISO's 'PPT Ban' is more than just a workplace change; it is a bold step towards a more efficient, innovative, and value-driven corporate future. It serves as a wake-up call for businesses worldwide to reevaluate their practices and embrace a new era of lean and effective management. Whether it's the reduction of unnecessary formalities, the promotion of minimalist communication, or the cultivation of a culture of trust, these efforts are all part of a larger movement to adapt to the changing dynamics of the modern business landscape. As companies continue to navigate the complexities of the 21st century, the lessons learned from this efficiency revolution will undoubtedly play a crucial role in determining their long-term success.