Roosevelt was an effective administrator who oriented the administrative machinery away from the routine towards the innovation. He was a voracious reader who kept himself updated through newspapers, government reports. He was easily accessible. He had a knack of absorbing the attitudes and ideas of the visitors by a mysterious osmosis. In the times of The Great depression, Roosevelt strategy played a critical role in paving a way for America to come out of it in less time.
There are three aspects of successful administration:
• To allow free flow of ideas and information to take wise decisions
• To have control over the actual decision making process.
• To infuse energy and enthusiasm among the team members who are going to implement the decision.
Roosevelt fares well on almost all the parameters mentioned above. He had his shortcomings particularly in the third concern- the ability to motivate the people involved. It has been mentioned more than once that Roosevelt’s policies left his subordinates feeling frustrated. However, the pros of the situation definitely outweigh the cons. Roosevelt implemented a system where in the scope of innovation was realized in the domain of administration which is considered mundane, monotonous by conventional wisdom. He was successful in tapping good talent by encouraging them and providing the support system for innovation. This made the job interesting for them and led to the kind of people he wanted in power- those with liveliness, vitality and vision. He exhibited an extraordinary level of flexibility and criticism for a president and took a lot of inputs from various sources in order to broaden his own perspective.
Despite the various channels of information he subscribed to (mails, public sentiment, wife’s opinion, expert advise, etc.), Roosevelt kept the rein of control firmly in his hands. He did not dilute his position or authority by ‘delegation-of-decision’ approach. All the major decisions were rooted to...