Interesting point made on a blog I’ve not read before, Mark Kleiman. Reminds me of something from the City from years ago. Different groups have different perceptions of time. To a stockbroker long term might mean something for your pension plan, something for 30 years in the future. To a jobber (for Americans think market specialist, for youngsters, market-maker) short term is now and long term is after lunch. The same principle applies here between an incoming CEO and the bureaucracy of a large firm:

Apparently (according to yesterday’s Wall Street Journal) the new CEO of Boeing, called in to clean up after a series of ethical lapses, instructed the new Vice President in Charge of Right and Wrong to send a memo to all of Boeing’s employees reminding them that lying, cheating, and stealing are naughty.
When the VP said that a draft of the memo would be ready for the CEO’s review in a few months. the CEO replied, “I don’t think you understand me. You’re looking at your calendar, and I’m looking at my watch.”