"Experts often possess more data than judgment"
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Powell’s line lands like a bureaucratic reprimand delivered with a general’s economy: a warning that information can become a shield against responsibility. “More data than judgment” isn’t an anti-intellectual swipe at expertise; it’s a critique of a particular professional deformation, common in large institutions, where analysis metastasizes into delay. Data is safe. Judgment is accountable.
The intent is practical and political. In government, “expert” often means someone trained to produce briefs, forecasts, and models that can be cited later as proof of diligence. Powell is pointing at the gap between knowing and deciding, between the accumulation of evidence and the moral and strategic courage to act on imperfect information. The subtext: expertise can quietly outsource agency. When decisions go wrong, the expert can point to the dataset; the leader can point to the expert. Everyone gets plausible deniability, and nothing gets owned.
The line also carries a soldier-statesman’s impatience with technocracy. Powell spent his career in rooms where lives and national credibility were on the line, and where “waiting for more data” can be its own decision with real costs. Judgment, in his framing, is synthesis under pressure: weighing tradeoffs, naming priorities, and accepting that uncertainty doesn’t dissolve just because the spreadsheet is thicker.
It’s a reminder that governance isn’t a math problem you solve; it’s a series of choices you sign your name to. Experts are indispensable, but they’re not a substitute for judgment - they’re raw material for it.
The intent is practical and political. In government, “expert” often means someone trained to produce briefs, forecasts, and models that can be cited later as proof of diligence. Powell is pointing at the gap between knowing and deciding, between the accumulation of evidence and the moral and strategic courage to act on imperfect information. The subtext: expertise can quietly outsource agency. When decisions go wrong, the expert can point to the dataset; the leader can point to the expert. Everyone gets plausible deniability, and nothing gets owned.
The line also carries a soldier-statesman’s impatience with technocracy. Powell spent his career in rooms where lives and national credibility were on the line, and where “waiting for more data” can be its own decision with real costs. Judgment, in his framing, is synthesis under pressure: weighing tradeoffs, naming priorities, and accepting that uncertainty doesn’t dissolve just because the spreadsheet is thicker.
It’s a reminder that governance isn’t a math problem you solve; it’s a series of choices you sign your name to. Experts are indispensable, but they’re not a substitute for judgment - they’re raw material for it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
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