Concurrent Progress

It amazes me every time people ask Obama and those who will be in Obama's administration if it is feasible to expect change on a variety of fronts simultaneously. It's as if fixing the economy, getting out of Iraq, seeing to health care, advancing a new industry of green energy, etc. cannot all be accomplished without needing to set one aside. It's true that money as a resource is finite, but it's very 20th century to imagine that money is the only and absolute resource. The greater resource is the integration of ongoing forces to achieve a unified result, particularly in the case of transforming energy, which would have a knock on effect to the economy and foreign reliance on oil. The true resource is the management of varied but connected networks and ideas, which Obama proved he could do in the campaign.

There was no talk of having to pull out of North Carolina if they wanted to be competitive in Colorado; it is agreed that the 50-states approach was what won the election for Obama. But with such a grassroots organization, full of amateurs and part-time if not volunteer staffers, they are sure to have a sloppy campaign, right? Well, the results are in and obviously that wasn’t the case. The Obama campaign established a modern, post-corporate, 21st century framework that focused on managing networks. The same can and will be done in governance. Obama, as a CEO of the world’s largest corporation – the United States of America – will use his managerial know-how and simultaneously guide the various aspects mentioned above. Just as a CEO of a multinational must face managing sprawling companies over a variety of industries and nations, so too must the President manage policy and strategic vision for the nation, and one aspect does not need to take a back seat in order to achieve success in another: that’s called management.