THE ONE “THING” A MANAGER CAN’T DELEGATE
A BUCK-PASSING MASTERCLASS FROM THE OVAL OFFICE CIRCUS
THE ONE “THING” A MANAGER CAN’T DELEGATE:
A BUCK-PASSING MASTERCLASS FROM THE OVAL OFFICE CIRCUS
I’ve been training managers for over half a century—yes, I predate PowerPoint, trust falls, and the phrase “let’s circle back on that”—and in all that time, one fundamental truth has remained as constant as bad coffee in the break room: A manager can delegate authority, but never responsibility or accountability.
This isn’t just some motivational poster wisdom. It’s considered a cardinal law of organizational theory, right up there with “the customer is always right” (they’re not) and “there’s no ‘I’ in team” (but there is in “liability”).
The Cabinet Meeting: A Masterclass in Buck-Passing
Which brings me to today’s cabinet meeting, a spectacle that would make any organizational behavior professor weep into their tenure papers.
Watching the proceedings, I witnessed what can only be described as an Olympic-level buck-passing relay race. If something went wrong, it was Biden’s fault. Or the Democrats. Or the media. Or possibly a rogue intern named Chad—we’re still waiting for confirmation on that one.
But the pièce de résistance? Trump denying knowledge of the “double tap on the boat” incident while Hegseth blamed Admiral Bradley, who—and here’s the kicker—wasn’t even there. It’s like blaming your imaginary friend for eating the last cookie, except with significantly higher geopolitical stakes.
When “Run Government Like a Business” Meets Reality
Now, we’re constantly told the government should be run like a business. Fair enough. So let’s apply basic business principles:
In a corporation, if the CEO performs this poorly, the Board of Directors can fire them. In government, the “Board” (that’s us, the people) can only fire the CEO/President once every four years—or through impeachment, which is basically the corporate equivalent of a hostile takeover, but with more C-SPAN coverage and less champagne.
Here’s where it gets spicy: Congressional Republicans have essentially delegated their constitutional responsibility (oops—remember, you can’t do that!) to the President. They’ve embraced the Unitary Executive Theory, which apparently grants the President powers somewhere between “monarch” and “deity who doesn’t need to read briefings.”
The Unitary Executive Theory: Or, “I’m Not Responsible, I’m Unitary“
The Unitary Executive Theory argues that the President has complete control over the executive branch. In practice, this seems to have morphed into: “The President has complete control over the executive branch, but zero accountability for what it does.”
It’s like giving your teenager the car keys, your credit card, and diplomatic immunity, then acting shocked when they drive through a Taco Bell.
According to this theory, the President can:
Direct all executive officers ✓
Remove them at will ✓
Control all executive functions ✓
Actually know what those functions are doing ✗ (apparently optional)
The Supreme Court: The Referee Who Left the Building
Traditionally, the Supreme Court serves as the organizational check on executive overreach—the HR department that actually has teeth. But in recent years, they’ve essentially delegated their responsibility to... wait for it... the Unitary Executive President.
Let me get this straight: The branch responsible for checking presidential power has decided that presidential power doesn’t really need checking?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call in organizational theory a “Circle Jerk Meeting.”
Definition: A situation in which a group of people engage in self-indulgent or self-gratifying behavior, especially by reinforcing each other’s views or attitudes, while producing zero actual accountability or results.
It’s the corporate equivalent of a meeting that could have been an email, except the email would have been more productive and less likely to undermine constitutional democracy.
The CNN Reality Check: When Facts Crash the Party
As CNN’s fact-checker Daniel Dale pointed out (bless him, he must go through highlighters like water), Trump’s cabinet meeting featured:
Claims that prescription drug prices were cut by over 100% (mathematically impossible, unless drugs are now paying us)
Assertions that grocery prices are down (they’re up 2.7%)
Statements about stopping inflation (current rate: same as when he took office)
Boasts about $18 trillion in investments (actual figure: significantly less, possibly calculated using Monopoly money)
In any actual business, a CEO presenting these figures would be escorted out by security before the PowerPoint finished loading.
The Management Lesson
Here’s what I’ve taught for 50 years, and what apparently needs to be taught again:
You can delegate:
Tasks
Authority to make decisions
The actual work
The research
The implementation
You CANNOT delegate:
Ultimate accountability
Responsibility for outcomes
Leadership itself
The consequences when things go sideways
Your duty to actually know what’s happening
When you’re the manager—or President—the buck stops with you. Not with Biden. Not with the Democrats. Not with the media. Not with Admiral Bradley who wasn’t even in the room. With. You.
The Midterm Motivation
So here’s your motivation to vote in the 2026 midterm elections:
Currently, we have a system where:
The President can sleep through cabinet meetings (allegedly, though today’s performance suggests he was awake and committed to the bit)
Congress has abdicated its oversight responsibility
The Supreme Court has decided checks and balances are more like “suggestions and possibilities”
Accountability has left the building, possibly to join Elvis
The only way to restore the basic management principle that someone, somewhere should be responsible for something is to change the composition of Congress.
Unless you enjoy watching a three-year-long organizational case study in “What Not to Do,” I suggest voting Democratic in the midterms.
Because right now, we’re not running government like a business. We’re running it like a business school cautionary tale titled: “Chapter 11: The Circle Jerk Meeting—How an Organization Collapsed While Everyone Agreed They Were Doing Great.”
TL;DR: In 50 years of management training, one rule has never changed: you can’t delegate responsibility and accountability. Yet somehow, the President, Congress, and Supreme Court have formed a mutual admiration society where nobody is responsible for anything, everyone blames everyone else, and the organizational chart looks like a Möbius strip.
Vote in 2026. Because accountability shouldn’t be a partisan issue—it should be a management basic.
The author has been training managers since before “synergy” was a buzzword and will continue doing so until “accountability” stops being treated like an optional add-on feature.