The species must understand. All life must understand. But your Fish Speakers are . . . Her eyes went wide with understanding. The difference between a good administrator and a bad one is about five heartbeats.
Good administrators make immediate choices.
They never lie about what they've done if their verbal orders cause problems, and they surround themselves with people able to act wisely on the basis of verbal orders. Often the most important piece of information is that something has gone wrong. Bad administrators hide their mistakes until it's too late to make corrections. Watching Moneo, Leto felt the flow of an observational awareness, a thought process which occurred so rarely but with such vivid amplication when it did occur, that Leto did not stir lest he cause a ripple in the flow. The primate thinks and by thinking, survives.