Robert Moses:

Exemplary Visionary and Achiever, but also Role Model for Lessons to be

learned in terms of Change in Organizations

Robert MosesFinal Presentation - Outline:

JAMES:

Introduction-why Robert Moses

The vision

Communicating the vision

Executing the vision

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SACHA:

Accomplishments-video

Process Diagram(s)

Downfall-video

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JOE:

Review - Lessons learnt from Josh - How to avoid the downfall:

Shared Vision

Leverage

Systems Thinking (“Master Planner”)

Lessons learned from Moses:-Reengineering-adjusting mental model-realigning shared vision

Conclusion / Summary

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Questions

Robert Moses - Highlights• Born December 18, 1888, Died 1981

• BA from Yale (1909), BA and MA from Oxford (1911), PhD from Columbia (1914)

• Started public career in 1913. Served as:Chairman of the State Council of Parks and President of Long Island Park Commission (1924-1963), Chairman of the Jones Beach State Parkway Authority and of the Bethpage Park Authority (1933-1963), New York City Park Commissioner (1934-1960), Chairman Triborough Bridge Authority (1934-1960), Chairman of the consolidated Triborough Bridge Authority and New York City Tunnel Authority (1946-1968), Chairman of New York Power Authority (1954-1963).

• Also served public as:New York’s Secretary of State (1927-1937), Republican candidate for governor (1934), Sole member of Henry Hudson Parkway Authority (1934-1938), Executive Officer of the New York City World’s Fair Commission (1936-1940), President of New York City World’s Fair Commission (1960-1967), while serving on the New York City Planning Commission,As well as:Chairing a slum clearance committee, co-ordinating arterial projects and being a member of a city-wide transportation council and being Director of the Lincoln Center of Performing Arts (1960s).

• At the same time, he worked as:a consultant to numerous governmental agencies and private industry, gave speeches, wrote books, was a lecturer and served on the Board of Trustees of Hofstra College.

• He also received countless awards & medals, was an honorary member of many organisations and an active participant in more of these than would seem possible given the scope of his commitments.

Robert Moses - Accomplishments• BA from Yale (1909), BA and MA from Oxford (1911),

PhD from Columbia (1914)

• Started public career in 1913. Served as:Chairman of the State Council of Parks and President of Long Island Park Commission (1924-1963), Chairman of the Jones Beach State Parkway Authority and of the Bethpage Park Authority (1933-1963), New York City Park Commissioner (1934-1960), Chairman Triborough Bridge Authority (1934-1960), Chairman of the consolidated Triborough Bridge Authority and New York City Tunnel Authority (1946-1968), Chairman of New York Power Authority (1954-1963).

• Also served public as:New York’s Secretary of State (1927-1937), Republican candidate for governor (1934), Sole member of Henry Hudson Parkway Authority (1934-1938), Executive Officer of the New York City World’s Fair Commission (1936-1940), President of New York City World’s Fair Commission (1960-1967), while serving on the New York City Planning Commission,As well as:Chairing a slum clearance committee, co-ordinating arterial projects and being a member of a city-wide transportation council and being Director of the Lincoln Center of Performing Arts (1960s).

• At the same time, he worked as:a consultant to numerous governmental agencies and private industry, gave speeches, wrote books, was a lecturer and served on the Board of Trustees of Hofstra College.

• He also received countless awards & medals, was an honorary member of many organisations and an active participant in more of these than would seem possible given the scope of his commitments.

The Legacy of Robert MosesRoadways on Long Island

• Interborough Parkway, 1935• Cross Island Parkway, 1940• Van Wyck Expressway, 1950• Clearview Expressway, 1963• Gowanus Expressway, 1964• Southern State Parkway, 1927• Northern State Parkway, 1930s-1952• Long Island Expressway, 1940• Robert Moses Parkway, 1954• Seaford-Oyster-Bay Expressway, 1969• Grand Central Parkway, 1936• Shore Parkway (Belt), 1941• Prospect Expressway, 1955• Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, 1964• Whitestone Expressway, 1972• Wantagh State Parkway, 1929• Sagtikos State Parkway, 1952• Sunken Meadow Parkway, 1952• L. I. Expressway to Riverhead, 1972

Other Roadways• West Side Highway, 1937• Hutchinson River Parkway, 1941• F.D.R. Drive, 1954• Major Deegan Expressway, 1961• Harlem River Drive, 1962• Henry Hudson Parkway, 1938• Bronx River Parkway, 1951• Bruckner Expressway, 1961• Cross Bronx Expressway, 1963• Robert Moses Expressway, Niagara River, 1964

Bridges and Tunnels• Henry Hudson, 1936• Marine Parkway, 1937• Whitestone, 1939• Brooklyn Battery, 1950• Verrazano Narrows, 1964• Triborough, 1936• Cross Bay, 1939• Queens Midtown, 1949• Throgs Neck, 1961• Robert Moses Causeway, 1964

Power Projects• Robert Moses Power Plant,

St. Lawrence River, 1959• Robert Moses Power Plant,

Niagara River, 1962

Buildings• United Nations, 1952• Lincoln Center, 1962• World’s Fair, 1964• New York Coliseum, 1956• Shea Stadium, 1964

New York City Housing• Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village, 1964• Rochdale Village, 1964• Fresh Meadows, 1947• Cadman Plaza, 1967• Co-op City, 1968

NY City Parks in Brooklyn & Queens• Alley Pond, 1935• Brookville, 1964• Corona• Dyker Beach• Jacob Riis• Marine, 1936• Rockaway• Astoria, 1936• Corlears Hook, 1939• Cunningham• Forest• Juniper Valley, 1937• Owl’s Head, 1937• Spring Creek

State Parks in Nassau & Suffolk• Heckscher State, 1924• Montauk Point, 1924• Valley Stream, 1925• Belmont Lake, 1926• Gilgo Beach, 1928• Captree, 1930• Connetquot, 1963• Hither Hills, 1924• Wildwood, 1925• Sunken Meadow, 1926• Jones Beach, 1929• Caumsett, 1961• Robert Moses, 1964

Source: Robert Moses Single Minded Genius, Long Island Studies, Joann P. Krieg, 1989

Editor’s Note: Since Moses lost power in 1968, NY City has built no new bridges, no new highways, virtually no new public housing projects, no performing arts centers, and no new beaches. Its parks have deteriorated and its infrastructure is crumbling....

Robert Moses - The RiseProcess Diagram

POWER

Developers

Titles /Awards

ResourcesParks

Roads

Society Good

Media(Newspapers)

Public Support

Government Support

Systems Thinking

Vision

Robert Moses - Process Diagram

The Rise

Remarks:

-We differ from Senge’s classic “limits to growth structure” in the sense, that we do not believe thatMoses was lacking systems thinking. Vice versa, Moses very much believed that he new the system andthat he knew how to work it. He thought that HE knew what was best for society and no one else. Hisvision dominated his systems thinking and set off the whole process. (His believe in supposedlyunderstanding the system became all the more important in his fall from power.)

-Since he thought he knew what was best and firmly believed in working the system to his advantage, hesought after power. He had a vision and to implement the vision he needed power.

-With his need for power came the seeking of resources. With resources he was able to build parks, roadsand what he termed society good. At the same time this “good” gave him positive media coverage in thenewspapers. His vision was spread widely and helped him gather public support. With the public on hisside, there was pressure on the government to support him and to allocate additional resources to Moses.With the additional resources he was able to build more parks, etc.., get more positive publicity, moreresources and titles, as well as rewards. These further helped him to get the developers on his side, whichfurther strengthened his power. The process was complete: one spiral reinforced by another, building onMoses’ vision, except that things tend to change over time.....

Robert Moses - The FallProcess Diagram

No Public Support

No Govt. Support

No Developers

No Titles /Awards

No Resources

No Parks

No Roads

Society “Good” Negative Media

(Newspapers)

Vision

Systems Thinking

Power

Robert Moses - Process Diagram

The FallRemarks:

-Moses thought that he knew it all. HIS vision took over. HIS belief in the system clearly dominated andHIS belief in what HE deemed “good” for society. His hunger for power overshadowed by HIS visionand HIS systems thinking, took the dominating role in the process spiral and just like the system hadworked in his favor before and had helped him gain additional power, the very same system later set off aspiral, which eventually cost him all his power.

-Moses lost the support of the people, because his vision alone was not enough to keep the processrunning in his favor. Society no longer deemed “good”, what Moses thought was best for them. Hereceived negative media publicity and increasingly lost support from the public. Pressure was put onelected / government officials to stop supporting Moses. More and more resources were taken away fromhim, no longer allowing him to build the parks he would have needed to keep the public on his side. Hehad become widely criticized and with the decreasing resources came a decrease in power. This in turnalso cost Moses the support of developers, which ensured that he received no new titles or awards (ratherthe opposite). Resources continued to be taken away from him and the same forces which previouslyworked in his favor now made him an outcast.

-The lack of a communication back towards Moses set off a costly spiral and had he realized that thereare limits to the cost people are willing to endure in favor of change and had he realigned his powerhunger and vision with people’s expectations, he may never have had to go through this negative spiral.

Robert Moses -Organizational Flow of Power

Moses Other

Public Government

Robert Moses -Some Possible Discussion Questions:

Moses said: “If the end doesn’t justify the means, what does?”How do we, as a group, feel about this? Does the end always justify the means?

People have often noted that Moses found a way around legalities and that no legalities everstood in his way. To what extend can this be taken without losing the public’s confidence, orwithout becoming a hypocrite by expecting others to follow rules, but breaking every rule oneselfon the other hand?

Twenty years from now, when you are in the corner office on the top floor, how do you think thatyou might avoid losing touch with your assembly workers?

Thinking about your own organizations, or the most recent organization you worked for, arethere any examples you can think of, similar to Rob Moses? What would you have donedifferently to avoid the break in communications?

What do you think that Moses could have done differently to avoid underestimating thecriticisms he faced and misjudging the resistance as the “normal” resistance to any change? Whatcan we take away from this for the future, in terms of knowing when to fight the resistance andwhen to start realigning our own mental models?

The role of the consultant: Could an outside consultant have made a difference in Moses’situation? Why would an “insider” probably never have stood up to Moses?

Could reengineering have been a solution to avoid Moses loosing power, or is there a point of noreturn, when it is too late for the same person to remain in power?

Could Moses have achieved the same long list of accomplishments, if he had relied more onteam work, instead of his autocratic management style?

Does this type of autocratic management still have a place in today’s’ world (and if so in whatkind of situations or organizations)?