That all resonates strongly with me. I've had two employers where this skill was highly valued. (I even had a boss at one, who did his diagrams in effing MS EX

That all resonates strongly with me. I've had two employers where this skill was highly valued. (I even had a boss at one, who did his diagrams in effing MS EXCEL - not pretty, but often simple and effective). Most people wouldn't think of using Powerpoint, but in fact, as you say, it's a particularly effective tool. At least for relatively simple ideas. Then I've had a couple of employers where absolutely NOBODY gave a crap about diagrams AT ALL. (as in, nobody ever did them, and everybody was constantly confused about what we were even doing). Any diagrams I encountered were halfhearted attempts and incomplete, and almost always out of date by at least a year. I tried to fill that gap but it just wasn't in the culture there. I'm at a new place now that seems to have a better culture and I'm hopeful.