Leaders are those who make decisions, but too often those decisions seem to have resulted from a rigidity of thinking that failed to consider all options. Recently (9/10/07), Admiral Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, noted that he had successfully instituted a process known as "red teaming," a form of playing Devil’s Advocate that former CIA Directors had contemplated but prior to 9/11 had not brought to pass.

With such Red Cells in place policy makers must consider alternative and dissent points of view to avoid the "assumption trains" that the US Senate Intelligence Committee said got us into such trouble prior to our invasion of Iraq.

The 9/11 Commission recognized a failure of imagination in our pre-9/11 thinking. Administration officials said, "No one could have imagined. . .There were, however, those like Tom Clancy.

We need leaders in all walks of life who work toward the Commission’s recommendation to "routinize the practice of imagination." This means having a deep sense of inquisitiveness about personal and professional experiences, about living in the world and about our foreign and domestic policies. It means "relentlessly questioning everything we do" and not accepting the common wisdoms whatever they may be. And which of our common wisdoms should we challenge today?

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