Link Hoewing is stepping down from Verizon, where...

requires a careful balancing of different interests and ideas. Reacting quickly is less important than thinking deeply, he said, citing the storied habit of Abraham Lincoln to write out letters in the heat of the moment, but put them in his desk for later reflection. “We don’t live in a paper and pen world anymore, but it would not hurt us to pause and reflect more often than we do in thinking about policy or reacting to the ideas of others,” Hoewing said. “Constructive criticism often helps move the ball forward. Quick, reactive commentary can sometimes do just the opposite.” Good policy also depends on defining the problem correctly, he said. “In far too many cases, we debate issues that are not really important to solving a real public policy problem because we are not asking the right questions and hence not really defining the issue that needs to be addressed.” It’s also crucial to respect the people involved in policy making, he said. “The vast majority of those participating in policy debates have good motives and have principles that are at the heart of what they support and say,” Hoewing said. Although there may be an “occasional bad apple,” it’s important to focus on opponents’ ideas, rather than attack their motives, he said. Hoewing told us his biggest accomplishments at Verizon were helping lead the effort among then-RBOCs to push through the Telecom Act; managing a real-life transition to a non-regulated environment in Telecom New Zealand; and helping work through rule changes at the FCC that helped spur investment in fiber.