[On the workings of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, or OSD, under Rumsfeld:] I am greatly concerned that OSD processes have often become ad hoc and long established conventional processes are atrophying. Specifically, there are areas that need your attention as the ad hoc processes often do not adequately consider professional military judgment and advice. . . . . Second, there is a lack of strategic review to frame our day-to-day issues . . . . Third, there has been a lack of explicit discussion on risk in most decisions. . . . Finally, I find it unhelpful to participate in senior level decision-making meetings without structured agendas, objectives, pending decisions and other traditional means of time management.No large organization with numerous responsibilities can be expected to operate efficiently if the Commander/CEO tries to manage it in an ad hoc manner. Too much is overlooked - like possibly planning for the post-war occupation.
Donald Rumsfeld was a naval aviator. His job - like that of all combat pilots - was to fly a complex machine, with managing people a secondary mission. Management of a large organization is a very different set of skills, one that most of the members of the Bush administration seem to consider unimportant along side knowledge of conservative ideology. Still, that Rumsfeld did not know how to run effective meetings that used the skills of those attending surprises me.
The rest of Gen. Shinseki's letter to Donald Rumsfeld is also very much worth reading.
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