More Lessons from Barack Obama

A few quotes I found enlightening from a NY Times piece, "Barack Obama,
Forever Sizing Up":
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/weekinreview/26kantor.html?ref=politics&pagewanted=all

On how he's run meetings since he worked at the Harvard Review:
"Everyone contributes; silent lurkers will be interrogated. (He wants to
'suck the room of every idea,' said Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser.)
Mention a theory and Mr. Obama asks how it translates on the ground. He
orchestrates debate, playing participants off each other -- and then
highlights their areas of agreement. He constantly restates others'
contributions in his own invariably more eloquent words."
(it goes on to say he then goes away and decides, with the decision
sometimes a surprise to the people at the meeting)

On time to think:
"As a community organizer, he spent his evenings filling journals, trying
to sort out the day's confusion. During his seven years as a state
senator, he used the time driving between Springfield and Chicago for
contemplation; when staffers suggested that a candidate for the United
States Senate should have a driver, Mr. Obama resisted, saying the driver
might intrude. Hence Mr. Obama's fluster when he misses his daily gym
time. 'That's when he can get his mind straight,' said Jim Cauley, his
campaign manager in the United States Senate race."

On how he uses planning:
"Mr. Obama resists making quick judgments or responding to day-to-day
fluctuations, aides say. Instead he follows a familiar set of steps:
Perform copious research. Solicit expertise. (What delighted Mr. Obama
most about becoming a United States senator, he told an old boss, was his
access to top scholars: he was a kid in the Princeton and Stanford candy
shops.) Project all likely scenarios. Devise a plan. Anticipate
objections. Adjust the plan, and once it's in place, stick with it. In
part, this approach explains how Mr. Obama won in the primaries: he
exploited the electoral calendar and arcane differences in voting methods,
and while Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton continually tried out new
messages, Mr. Obama modified his only slightly, even when some supporters
urged more dramatic change."