‘The worst thing that can happen for decision-makers is to get a filtered point of view’

January 19, 2006

This may be my single favorite Bush quote of all time. From a presidential event in Virginia this morning:

“I take great comfort in having people around who can walk in my office and tell me what’s on their mind. Part of my job is — they say, ‘what’s your job?’ My job is decision-maker. I make a lot of decisions. Obviously, some of which you’ve seen, and a lot of them you don’t. And they’re big ones and little ones. But you make a lot of decisions. And if you don’t — if you’re uncertain about all the facts surrounding a decision, you’ve got to rely upon people. And you’ve then got to create an environment in which people are willing to come in and say, ‘here’s what’s on my mind.’

“It’s important at the presidential level. It’s important in business. You’ve got to have people comfortable about saying, ‘Here’s what I think you ought to do, Mr. CEO.’ You’ve got to listen and have a — I’ve always believed in a flat organizational chart. I think the worst thing that can happen for decision-makers is to get a filtered point of view.”

Seriously. He really said that. Of course, such a sentiment stands in stark contrast to this:

It’s a standing joke among the president’s top aides: who gets to deliver the bad news? Warm and hearty in public, Bush can be cold and snappish in private, and aides sometimes cringe before the displeasure of the president of the United States…. Bush can be petulant about dissent; he equates disagreement with disloyalty.

I’m also reminded of a Time interview with a “youngish” White House aide, described as a Bush favorite, who said, “The first time I told him he was wrong, he started yelling at me. Then I showed him where he was wrong, and he said, ‘All right. I understand. Good job.’ He patted me on the shoulder. I went and had dry heaves in the bathroom.”

We’re talking, after all, about “Bubble Boy,” who goes out of his way to make sure he’s never exposed to anyone who might challenge him with dissent or disagreement. Bush thinks he created an environment in which people are willing to come to him directly and say, “Here’s what’s on my mind”? Could he possibly believe this?

He is mentally unstable so, YES, he does believe it. Only 3 more years.

  • Flat organizational chart???? HA!!!

    Didn’t this guy graduate from a business scholl?? Does he know what a flat organization is???

    Here’s a definition Mr. Bush: http://ollie.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/3organizing/org_process/org_process.htm

    “Flat organizations emphasize a decentralized approach to management that encourage high employee involvement in decisions. The purpose of this structure is to create independent small businesses or enterprises that can rapidly respond to customers’ needs or changes in the business environment. The supervisor tends to have a more personal relationship with his or her employees.”

    Ummmm, no offense, but Osama bin Laden has an organization with a flat organizational structure. You, W, do not.

  • I thought I’d re-work W’s statement to show how vacuous it is.

    “I take great comfort in having people around who can walk in my kitchen and tell me what they want on their pancakes. Part of my job is — they say, ‘what’s your job?’ My job is pancake-maker. I make a lot of pancakes. Obviously, some of which you’ve seen, and a lot of them you don’t. And they’re big ones and little ones. But you make a lot of pancakes. And if you don’t — if you’re uncertain about all the ingrediants surrounding a pancake, you’ve got to rely upon people. And you’ve then got to create an environment in which people are willing to come in and say, ‘here’s what’s I want on my pancake.’

    “It’s important at the presidential level. It’s important in business. It’ important in making pancakes You’ve got to have people comfortable about saying, ‘Here’s what I want on my pancake Mr. Pancake-Maker.’ You’ve got to listen and have a — I’ve always believed in a flat pancakes. I think the worst thing that can happen for pancake-maker is to get a filtered point of view.”

  • We are talking about a momma’s boy who has never earned anything in his life. Daddy was a rich oilman, then Congressman, then ambassador, etc. He had poor grades? No problem, he gets into Yale as a legacy. Doesn’t want to go to Vietnam? No problem, daddy gets him into the National Guard. Sucks at business? No problem, daddy’s friends get him a job as titular head of a baseball team. Daddy’s friends get him a job as governor, then president. Hmmm…., never earned a GD thing in his life, bet that makes him very defensive when questioned about anything. Must come from knowing deep down he’s a complete waste of oxygen.

  • Honestly, CB, does ANYTHING that comes out of the mouth of this prize-winning Ass truly surprise or shock you anymore? The only thing I occassionally lose conviction about is how much he swallows this line of BS and how much he disrepects anyone listening to him. He is so facile with his “up is down, black is white” spin, I cannot discern how much is the arrogance of his upbringing and how much is his disdain for the citizens at whom he flings this crap. While at home ill yesterday, I had an opportunity to watch the spin and dance stylings of (to steal a description from Matt Taibbi) the gopher-like spokescreature of the Bush White House. Talk about swinging wildly between wanting to laugh or wanting to cry (hysterically in both instances), I was truly torn as I watched. McClellan must have down a few stiff ones both before and after his performances before the press every day. The sheen of desperation never left him yesterday.

  • The first rule in telling a convincing lie is believing the lie. If you convince yourself you are not lying you do not have to deal with the dissonance of what you believe to be true and what you are telling others. Obviously he has been convinced that he listens to and relies on others. The fact that he has never had to face the reality of his words and his actions insulates him (see Bubble Boy) from reality and allows him to say these things with a straight, albeit smarmy looking, face.

    On the other hand maybe what he means it that he decided to let the Oil Companies create energy policy. He deceided to let Dick Cheney create the policy on torture. He decided to let the mining industry create environmental policy etc. etc. etc. He relies on their judgement because he does not know the first thing about these things. Maybe this was a bald face truth about how little he actually does. In that case he is more of a delegator and less of a decision maker.

    Regardless he is 100% dope.

  • Rege

    You are a genius. Of course, you’ve spoiled pancakes for me forever, but that only gets to the heart of your genius.

  • Has anyone seen the amazing movie “Downfall” about Hitler in the bunker during the last days of the Reich? There’s a great scene in which Hitler and his generals are standing around a warboard, and Hitler is moving pieces around, saying this guy will bring his troops up from here, that guy will cut off the Russians there, then everything will be fine, the Reich will be saved, and the generals just look around sweating and scared, all aware that none of the units Hitler thinks will soon arrive still exist, but unable to tell him that, spoil is little vision of the world and so incur his wrath. This is what Bush’s comments smack of. A total lack of perspective.

    The also remind me of a recent scientific study that shows people who know less about something actually think they know more, whereas those who know more have enough persepctive to know what they don’t know yet. In other words, Bush’s comments are further proof that you can be too stupid to know you’re stupid.

  • Another thing I find amazing about this statement is that getting “unfiltered” information would require Duh-bya to have some analytical skills to arrive at a good decision. His entire “philosophy” is based upon a massive filter. The quote is stunning on so many levels.

  • How this sorry excuse for a human being was smart enough, or remained sober long enough to learn how to fly an F-102 is beyond me.

  • It’s true that nothing can shock anymore about what the administration would stoop to–even a coup d’etat.

    But the quotes are enlightening in one respect. Clearly, the President knows the basic principles of leadership and good management. And he understands what he’s supposed to say when asked about his interpersonal style.

    But the “reality” quotes show that he doesn’t think that he has to follow sound principles, even though the advantages of doing so outweigh the costs by a huge margin. This leads to interesting linkages. Consider, for example, all the laws that he thinks doesn’t apply to him (torture, spying on US citizens, etc). These laws in fact make the government stronger, not weaker as he supposes. Consequently, the relaxed attitude toward sound rules and principles looks like a basic personality trait for the President. Also, this personality characteristic suggests that he may not be in the bubble as much as we think, at least as far as WH policy excesses go, but indeed a (if not ‘the’) source.

  • “any time we’ve got a kid in harm’s way, he or she is going to have the best equipment, best training, best possible pay. That’s what we owe the families of our military.”

    What a freakin liar.

  • Ever notice how much this asshole likes to talk about his “decisions”?–he’s stays in shape so he can make “good, crisp decisions,” he makes “decisions,” “I made the decision,” “I’m a decision-maker,” on and on. It’s part of his essential conception of himself as someone who is “decisive.” He doesn’t “think” or “analyze” or “examine” or even “look at.” He just “decides” (or better, “makes a decision”). Why? Because he’s “decisive.” That’s what he is, so that’s what he does. What a tool.

  • Does Bush still keep the demonstrators isolated whenever he appears in public?

    Wow. Is he paranoid or what?

  • There are soooo…. many reasons why Bush is bad for America, so why did so many folks vote for him and so many folks opposed to him didn’t vote?

    Thats just too hard to understand.

  • Gridlock,

    Let’s take part of your find — “The purpose of this structure is to create independent small businesses or enterprises that can rapidly respond to customers’ needs or changes in the business environment.”

    Isn’t that, essentially, what the entire Rove-DeLay-Abramoff-Norquist apparstus is about? Spinning off various elements of the federal government into for-profit pork enterprises?

    Sure, Bush believes THAT.

    Also, in my experience, every CEO I’ve ever heard invoke a “flat org chart” has been up to something suspicious, and used the moniker and concept to keep the lower-level direct-reports from finding out what really was going on.

  • “if you’re uncertain about all the facts surrounding a decision, you’ve got to rely upon people”

    There it is in a nutshell.
    What it must be like to be Bush, knowing deep inside that you are an dumb ass and don’t have a clue what to do with everything going into the crapper and the whole world watching…. You are relying on your handlers to pull it off a Presidential Persona for you…..
    and discovering that your handlers are faking it as much as you are.
    because you as president have picked dumb ass subordinates like yourself… because it makes you feel more secure, …because what really makes you feel like a dumb ass is when your are around sombody who is not.

  • The comment by Farinata is right on. Once again, Bush talks down to his audience — as if they were the elementary school kids in that classroom on 9-11:

    “Let’s ask Mr. Bush what a president does, shall we?”

    “Well, I’m glad you all asked me that question. As president, I make decisions. Lots of them. Big ones and little ones.” etc. etc. etc. No doubt he thinks this is “communicating.”

    Does anyone but me feel insulted every time I listen to one of his speeches?

  • I know that I’m going to insult a lot people, but the previous 19 comments miss the mark. Bush’s comments are pure Rovian: What’s up is down and down is up. Bush was coached to say that tripe about managing people and leadership. It’s all to spin the public a one-eighty; we know the opposite is true. Bush executed a similar spin when he complained about those who say that the Iraq war was fought for oil or fought for Israel. Puppet-master Karl Rove has put all those words in Bush’s mouth. An incurious mind can not have a curious thought.

  • Jeff R, when I read your post all I could think of was Bush in the debates:

    This is hard work. I work really hard. Being President is a hard job.

    He’s like a freakin record with a skip — it like a verbal form of ‘deer in the headlights.’

  • Anyone that has been on this planet for more than about 20 years, and even some under, know that when ANY person begins a sentence:

    “I’m the kind of person that….” You can pretty much take to the bank that what follows will be just about 180 degrees out of phase with what how they really are.

    But the fact that Bush even CONSIDERS and knows about the pitfalls of bubble-existence, the dangers of Peter-Pan CEO’s, means it is a conscious decision to be kept from any counter-views.

  • And in fact, THERE is a perfect new nickname for our president…

    “The Tinkerbell president” as in “children, if you don’ t believe in Tenkerball, she’ll just fade away into nothingness”

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