[tunesmith]

It's a great article, but this last line drives me crazy: "But in the end [the President] was as aloof from the people and facts he needed to avoid this catastrophe as he was from the people who ended up fixing it." It sounded to me more like he was trusting people whose job it was to deliver. So his failure to micromanage is somehow being "aloof". Never pass up an opportunity to reinforce a media meme, I guess.

[twoodfin]

This was the signature accomplishment of his first term and a substantial part of his legacy as President. He was out on the hustings making speech after speech about how buying health insurance on the exchange was going to be as easy as shopping for a plane ticket on Expedia.

It would not have been "micromanaging" for him to have done what was necessary to be sure that what he was saying matched up with reality. Yes, it was a giant IT project of the sort governments usually suck at. But that was the bill he got passed and signed. If his administration wasn't capable of leading that project to successful, timely completion, he has to shoulder much of the blame.

[watwut]

My understanding is that bad news did not bubbled up. They stayed hidden and that one is cultural problem.Instead of president being informed that project will be late, programmers were informed that failure is not an option. Turned out it was an option.

Cultural problems like this are often caused by leadership. Whether you will be told bad news depends a lot on your management style and on people you decide to work with. You do not have to micromanage, but if they are scared to tell you the truth, then it is often your own fault.