The White House: Think Like a Chef

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Move over, Tom Colicchio: the White House has a brainy, kitchen-oriented powerhouse who "thinks like a chef." Recently, The Washington Post published a delightful article by Mark Leibovich about the self-management technique of Andrew Card, the White House's Chief of Staff, to cope with life in the "pressure cooker." What way does Mr. Card follow to organize the daily life of the most powerful man in the world, US President George W. Bush? Ah, it is the Zen of the "la Cuisine" -- not Haute Cuisine but the very tangible place of cooking. And this road to mastery started as humbly as the self-effacing Card -- at McDonald's. The Post is extremely generous to Card, implying that he developed this from the "Memory Palace" technique of Matteo Ricci, a 16th-century Italian Jesuit who shared the notion with Confucian scholars during missionary work in China in the 16th Century. Ricci taught the Chinese to use mnemonic devices in the form of an imaginary palace room: Card uses the kitchen as his device in a daily mental game of ritual "cleaning my kitchen." Mentally, Card places himself in front of a stove and prioritizes according to "front and back burners" -- No. 1 is right front, 2 is left front, etc. Far-off events are freezer food; resolved matters are stored in the cupboard. He's got it down so pat, "There's no paper anywhere" in his office. Card gives new meaning to the phrase "It's all in his head," although he claimed to The Post, "I'm not a very smart person." Really? Well, then define "smart." Anyone who can manage the schedule of the POTUS (that's Washington-speak for "President Of The United States") cannot be too "dumb." If he's talking about school and college degrees, those certainly help since our whole way of life is predicated on certain kinds of knowledge, but degrees are no guarantee nor are they the only measure of smarts. For kitchen staff, many of whom do not have much formal education, Card's technique and career are a heartening example. In fact, Card's example goes along way to explain the particular genius of super chefs. What does Card's story portend? Will we see chefs become White House staff members? Well, I don't think we'll see bad boy Tony Bourdain lining up for White House Chief of Staff any time soon. Rather, the trend Card's story point to is the importance of basic management skills, which can be found any and every where, not the least in the kitchen. If anything, his story should signal culinary schools like the Culinary Institute of America, the French Culinary Institute, the Institute of Culinary Education, and Cordon Bleu to consider ever more seriously the need to include ever more business management in their curricula. I strongly recommend this article to anyone interested in this kitchen-memory technique, in personal business management, or in White House operations: click here to read. Previous articles: Vote for White House Guest Chefs Wanted: White House Chef Inauguration Spells Alphabet Soup Disaster Wolfgang Puck Inaugurates Washington Tsunami Update 4: US Ex-Presidents Lead Funding Elections East 2: Washington Sports Night Elections West: First Drinks on Mary Sue & Susan Elections East: East-West Special Charlie Palmer Ties as Washington's No. 1 Steakhouse Todd English Flipflops Between Bush and Kerry? Charlie Palmer: Bipartisan Turf Surfs the Hill Politics, Billboards & Champagne Politics, Chefs & Billboards Inside Scoop on Dinner in the Control Room