Policy is for losers; winners do deals. The single biggest problem that the Trump administration has had in advancing its agenda is a disdain for policymaking and in-the-weeds expertise. Policymaking seems too nerdy, too wonky, too boring for the president and his “only the best” people. Team Trump loves dealmaking instead.
Why does someone prefer policy making and others prefer deal making?
This was the question that I had when I read the quote. Policy making is about creating a set of rules and guidelines which can be subsequently reused. We prefer policy making when we want to be just. Policy making tends to be blind to other nuances, one tends to apply it to all situations. We prefer deal making when we believe that each situation has to be optimized and that optimization can only happen when we look at each situation holistically - from scratch. Animals tend to make deals more often than follow a policy. The need for immediate gratification makes one resort to a deal than to a policy.
In the stock market, algorithmic trading would be akin to following a policy while non-algorithmic trading would resemble deal making. In algorithmic trading one doesn't think in real time. The policy that had been defined earlier is being executed now.
While developing software there are a set of rules or standards: processes and guidelines. For example that an artifact has to be reviewed and the review comments to be taken to closure and that coding or other guidelines to be followed while creating code or other artifacts. When things go awry we tend to skip all the processes and to do things on the fly hoping we would not get into a mess and because there really is no time for archaic processes when sh** has hit the roof. A friend of mine in Quality department used to quote "skipping processes because you do not have time is like taking off on a long drive without filling petrol because you are in a hurry."
People with a long term view in mind tend to adhere to policy making while others tend to finish a deal quickly.
Which is better? Tough question. Deal making avoids rules and is like P (as in MBTI) behavior. It's extremely adaptable. Policy making is less adaptable to issues or events not covered in the policy. Even the most ardent P people tend to have a good policy, at least superficially, while still ardently doing deals. I seem to think that Mr Trump blatantly follows deals. I wonder how long he will remain.
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