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| Donald Rumsfeld
As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time. Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small. Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war. Don't 'over-control' like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the flow that you can observe it, modify, and improve it. Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it. Find ways to decentralize. Move decision making authority down and out. Encourage a more entrepreneurial approach. Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000. It's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership. Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind. Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there. Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost. Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction. Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented. The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments. The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure. The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country. There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact. Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.When someone with a rural accent says, I don't know much about politics, zip up your pockets. When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later. You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck. |
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