He's right

[fpb]

From the news, today:

Barack Obama endorses making time for thinking in the White House.

As the Democratic candidate for president chatted with Tory Leader David Cameron at the Houses of Parliament on Saturday, a boom microphone used by reporters caught their discussion. It was unclear whether Obama and Cameron knew how much of their conversation others could hear.

Obama and Cameron talked casually about the demands of high office, according to a transcript provided to reporters.

CAMERON: You should be on the beach. You need a break. Well, you need to be able to keep your head together.

OBAMA: You've got to refresh yourself.

CAMERON: Do you have a break at all?

OBAMA: I have not. I am going to take a week in August. But I agree with you that somebody, somebody who had worked in the White House who _ not Clinton himself, but somebody who had been close to the process _ said that, should we be successful, that actually the most important thing you need to do is to have big chunks of time during the day when all you're doing is thinking. And the biggest mistake that a lot of these folks make is just feeling as if you have to be ...

CAMERON: These guys just chalk your diary up.

OBAMA: Right. ... In 15 minute increments and ...

CAMERON: We call it the dentist waiting room. You have to scrap that because you've got to have time.

OBAMA: And, well, and you start making mistakes or you lose the big picture. Or you lose a sense of, I think you lose a feel ...

CAMERON: Your feeling. And that is exactly what politics is all about. The judgment you bring to make decisions.

OBAMA: That's exactly right. And the truth is that we've got a bunch of smart people, I think, who know 10 times more than we do about the specifics of the topics. And so if what you're trying to do is micromanage and solve everything then you end up being a dilettante, but you have to have enough knowledge to make good judgments about the choices that are presented to you.

Comments

[un-crayon-rouge.livejournal.com]

This may be the day hell freezes over. Politicians having a semi-intelligent conversation about how to do the right thing?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I did notice that both Obama and McCain have this unusual habit of thinking for themselves, but I am really surprised about Cameron.

[becomethesea.livejournal.com]

I'm not sold on Obama, but the man certainly seems to be quite an intuitive idealist. Interesting.

ETA: may I also add I get to vote in this election?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I'd worked that out. It's your luck that you did not have to vote in the one where the candidates were Bush II and Kerry - enough to put anyone off elections for life!

[super-pan.livejournal.com]

"Bush II and Kerry - enough to put anyone off elections for life!"

Yup!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

If I were American, I would vote for McCain, but the thing is that both candidates are interesting and intelligent people and that - unlike some choices I could mention - it is easy to see why voters would choose one or the other.

[djmahon.livejournal.com]

it is easy to see why voters would choose one or the other.

Well, it's not like we have much of a choice, this election; we either vote for the worst candidate or the next-to-worst, or someone who has no chance of winning whatsoever. Had I my druthers, I'd have somebody like Bob Jindal for President--but I rarely get my druthers.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Jindal? No thank you. He may make a perfectly good state governor, but I have already said in the matter of Mike Huckabee what I think of Creationists as heads of state (http://fpb.livejournal.com/269309.html).

[fishlivejournal.livejournal.com]

This point was made pretty solidly in The One Minute Manager, and The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey: to get ahead you need to work hard, so people at the top tend to be hard workers. However, it's not how many decisions a leader makes that matters, but the quality of them. A single decision can make or break any organisation, including a country. A leader needs to be willing to spend days, weeks or even months carefully considering important problems, not making work for themselves. And if they can't find the time, they should be delegating more - if only to train up the next generation of decision makers.