Differences in Management Style

The following is an excerpt from a Harvard Business Review article about the decision making process. It talks about how differences in decision making within the Kennedy administration between the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis led to the drastically different historical outcomes.

After the botched invasion, Kennedy conducted a review of the foreign policy decision-making process and introduced five major changes, essentially transforming the process into one of inquiry. First, people were urged to participate in discussions as "skeptical generalists"--that is, as disinterested critical thinkers rather than representatives of particular departments. Second, Robert Kennedy and Theodore Sorenson were assigned the role of intellectual watchdog, expected to pursue every possible point of contention, uncovering weaknesses and untested assumptions. Third, task forces were urged to abandon the rules of protocol, eliminating formal agendas and deference to rank. Fourth, participants were expected to split occasionally into subgroups to develop a broad range of options. And finally, President Kennedy decided to absent himself from some of the early task force meetings to avoid influencing other participants and slanting the debate.

The inquiry was used to great effect when in October 1962 President Kennedy learned that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles on Cuban soil, despite repeated assurances from the Soviet ambassador that this would not occur. Kennedy immediately convened a high level task force, which contained many of the same men from the Bay of Pigs invasion, and asked them to frame a response.

...

Ultimately, subgroups developed two positions, one favoring a blockade and the other an air strike.

...

The subgroups exchanged position papers, critiqued each other's proposals and came together to debate the alternatives. They presented Kennedy with both options, leaving him to make the final choice. The result was a carefully framed response, leading to a successful blockade and a peaceful end to the crisis.

It looks like JFK managed quite differently than a certain decider.