When I wish to interrupt one occupation, I shut its drawer and open another. They do not mix.
A central tenet of Napoleon's methodology for managing the immense complexities of his duties was a mental model he referred to as the "chest of drawers." This system provided a mechanism for compartmentalising information and tasks, allowing for intense, singular focus on the matter at hand without distraction from other pressing concerns.
Napoleon explained this system to a companion during his exile in the following manner: "The emperor explained the clarity of his ideas and his ability to prolong his occupations indefinitely without experiencing fatigue by saying that each object and each business was filled in his head as in a chest of drawers. When I wish to interrupt one occupation, I shut its drawer and open another. They do not mix. And when I am busy with one, I am not importuned or tired by the other. When I want to sleep, I shut all the drawers and I am fast asleep."
This approach addresses a fundamental challenge of leadership: the need to be proficient across a wide range of diverse and often unrelated domains. The modern temptation to delegate partially is, in our estimation, a perilous course. We concur with the principle that delegation should be a matter of complete abdication of a task to a trusted subordinate, whose performance can then be evaluated in its totality. The alternative is for the leader to remain immersed in the details.
The "drawer system" is not merely a metaphor for organisation, but a disciplined mental practice. Before a matter is afforded the status of a "drawer," it must first be subjected to a rigorous assessment of its importance and validity. The allocation of a leader's time is a matter of strategic importance, and the question of whether an endeavour merits any attention at all is the first and most critical filter.