We’re impressed with the thinking behind President-elect Obama’s national security team nominations, which include his former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and the current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, who will stay in that role.  This is how the President-elect explained his decisions in a Q&A:

“I assembled this team because I am a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions,” he said.  ”I think that’s how the best decisions are made. One of the dangers in a White House, based on my reading of history, is that you get wrapped up in groupthink, and everybody agrees with everything, and there’s no discussion, and there are no dissenting views. So I am going to be welcoming a vigorous debate inside the White House.”

Poor decision-making processes in previous administrations are well-documented in classic works like Irving Janis’ “Groupthink” and “Thinking in Time,” by Richard Neustadt and Ernest May.  More recently, even Republican commentators such as David Brooks have criticized President George W. Bush for creating an environment in which groupthink prevailed.

Inviting discussion and contention does not need to produce paralysis, as Obama made clear:

“But understand, I will be setting policy as president. I will be responsible for the vision that this team carries out, and I will expect them to implement that vision once decisions are made.”

We hope corporate CEOs are taking notes.  Here’s the link to the full AP article.