Cuban Missile Crisis – winning through ‘Diversity of Thought’

I recently met someone who shared my passion and approach to history and it got me thinking about a book I re-read recently – Thirteen Days: A memoir of the Cuban missile crisis by Robert F. Kennedy. As news of the Cuban revolutionary and politician, Fidel Castro’s death came out, I was obviously reminded of the Cold War period, especially the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. As a History student, I have often stated how the Cold War was my most favourite period in history – to study of course! And to learn about the events gone by more as a story than just chapters in the syllabus made it all the more interesting. Having studied about the above mentioned event at school and university, I was relatively well versed with the happenings, but with so many articles being published after Fidel Castro’s death, I wanted to revisit history, hence, Robert F. Kennedy’s memoir.

Thirteen Days is Kennedy’s account of the Cuban Missile Crisis between October 16 and 28, 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the closest the two superpowers came to nuclear conflict, following the discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, a mere 90 miles away from Florida. Robert Kennedy’s account describes the meetings held between the then US President and his brother, John F. Kennedy and his Executive Committee, a team assembled by the President to handle the situation between the two nations. At the time of the crisis, Robert Kennedy was the US Attorney General and a member of the National Security Council. Given his position in his brother’s Executive Committee, Robert Kennedy had access to the happenings – first hand. This book offers interesting insights into a crisis that brought the world to the brink of a massive nuclear war. The book is a blow-by-blow account of what ensued over those 13 days and gives readers a peak into how President Kennedy, along with his group of advisers, worked on the best response to the Soviet actions in Cuba. In a TV address on 22^nd October, 1962, President Kennedy notified his fellow Americans about the presence of the missiles and explained his decision to order a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the United States’ position to make use of military force, if necessary, to the contain Soviet Union’s actions. However, a big crisis was averted when the President accepted the Soviet leader, Nikita Krushchev’s offer to remove the missiles in exchange for the United States’ promise to not invade Cuba.

One might wonder why I am writing about the Cuban Missile Crisis after so many years… When I read the book the first time, it was to get another insight into what happened during those 13 days and how the two nations came so close to waging a nuclear war, but ultimately managed to avert it. My intent while reading the book again was solely to revisit the period since so many opinion pieces were getting published post Fidel Castro’s death. However, this recent reading gave me a very different perspective – how diversity of thought and experience helped President Kennedy and his Executive Committee wade through the crisis.

As someone who thinks of Diversity and Inclusion every waking hour (It’s my profession!), this perspective is of great interest and importance, especially now where the future of diversity is not what one thinks but how one thinks. While reading the book, I realised how President Kennedy built a diverse group of advisors and drew from their varied perspectives and background to deliberate over all the possible alternatives. Robert Kennedy provides us with a detailed account of the discussions that took place, what actions were taken or not taken and what the Executive Committee members’ views were as the discussions progressed. Given the vivid description of the happenings, the reader can easily imagine the pressure situation the President and his Executive Committee were put in. While the President was looking at a peaceful, non-military solution, several members of his Executive Committee were of the view that military force was the best way to keep the Soviets at bay. How the President considered all views before making a decision, helped the United States avert a big disaster.

It is interesting to know how this approach stemmed from the catastrophe caused about 18 months before, during the Bay of Pigs Invasion on 17^th April, 1961, when President Kennedy supported a rather ill-conceived covert operation to unseat Fidel Castro. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a military invasion of Cuba undertaken by a CIA sponsored paramilitary group. With Cuba’s close geographical proximity to the United States, the rise of Fidel Castro’s communist government was a big threat to a capitalist United States. However, the invading force was defeated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces within three days.

This incident heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union and was a significant event of the Cold War period. President Kennedy’s role during the Bay of Pigs Incident has often been criticised and he is said to have made a decision without a consensus. Psychologist, Irving Janis describes such actions as “groupthink”, a psychological drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses dissent and appraisal of alternatives. Groupthink occurs when a group “makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgement”. A group that is affected by “groupthink” ignores alternatives and tends to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups. A group can be vulnerable to think alike when members come from similar backgrounds and the group is shielded from outside opinions.

Having adopted this approach during the Bay of Pigs Incident and facing an embarrassing defeat, President Kennedy realised a different approach had to be adopted when the United States discovered Soviet missiles in Cuba. Unlike the covert operation during the Bay of Pigs incident, an operation that President Kennedy had inherited from the Eisenhower administration, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the President stayed informed throughout and was firmly in control of facts and decisions. He reworked on his strategy that involved getting diverse viewpoints, thus stimulating debate, exploring options and letting the best plan win. Having an Executive Committee that was made up of people who were diverse and far-ranging in their political orientations presented the President with a wide spectrum of voices.

President Kennedy’s approach back in the 1960s resonates very well today, when organisations are emphasising on diversity of thought, which focuses on realising the true potential of people, by appreciating the potential promise of each person’s unique perspective and different way of thinking. Leaders must accept there’s not just one right way to get things done and to be truly innovative and inclusive, companies have to focus on harnessing different viewpoints and opinions. Having people with broad experiences and exposure to different ideas will help organisations in the long run.