From David Brooks’ column in today’s NY Times:
…you would also have to say that Geithner, like many top members of the Obama economic team, is extremely context-sensitive. He’s less defined by any preset political doctrine than by the situation he happens to find himself in.
‘Sensitivity to one’s situation’ is a quality you find in any good improviser. Dogma (e.g. “political doctrine”) by contrast, doesn’t do much to move a scene forward; instead, it usually results in one of two less-than-desirable outcomes: 1) a groupthink decision by people who let their dogma do their talking; or 2) the scene bogs down in a circular debate about how to move the scene forward.
The only thing that will move a scene forward is moving the scene forward. You can’t talk about it. You can’t write a prescription for it. You just have to do it.
Woody Allen once said, “Ninety percent of life is just showing up.” Woody was 55.55% right. Fifty percent of life is showing up. The other fifty percent is what you do when you get there. And the only way to know what to do when you get there is to be sensitive to the context of your scene.
Mr. Context Sensitive