TPM Reader GL is on to something here:

The significance of what Gates said yesterday about the different "styles" of Bush and Obama isn't that Obama asks people's opinions. It's that he makes his advisors voice their views in meetings in front of their colleagues -- and thus be accountable for them. Cheney famously never spoke up in meetings. Cheney was never responsible for his opinions and policies. His insanity never had to withstand scrutiny. That is the point. That is what led to catastrophe.