The One Minute Manager

Rating:
Summary: Got a few minutes?
Review: "The One Minute Manger" by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson teaches the readers the three skills to achieving effective management. Although the keys to being an effective and successful manager, as described by Blanchard and Johnson, seems unbelievably simple, they will strike an understanding chord among most people who have ever managed and supervised employees. Not because managers typically follow the principles, but precisely because these simple principles are ones that they intuitively know they should be practicing yet do not because of lack of conviction in the methods, worry about changing management styles, low level of interest, or apprehension that they will take too much time.

Not to fear, Blanchard and Johnson address these concerns in their short simple book. The allegory starts off with a young man in search of an effective manager. Initially disillusioned by the managers he encounters, who are only results-oriented at the expense of the employees or only people-oriented at the expense of the organization, the young man discovers The One Minute Manager. The young man learns from The One Minute Manager and the people whom he manages the philosophy of the one-minute management style. The authors gradually convince the readers through examples, anecdotes, explanations, and quotable quotes why and how their three principles, when followed appropriately, actually work. A brief guideline list accompanies each of the three management skills: the "one minute goal setting," "one minute praising," and "one minute reprimand." There is even a concise flow chart to help solidify the management principles into one page near the end of the book; no doubt, designed to be cut-out or photocopied and posted in every manager's office. By the end of the short 60 minutes required to finish the book, most readers will be convinced to at least test out the method. After all, the title of the book already suggests that time commitment is not an issue; one can become an effective manager by investing a short 60-second of time. When one reads the book, this really translates to several 60-second intervals per day, but the amount of time will be much less than what most managers are used to.

More effective management in significantly less time? Is it possible? The authors certainly make a compelling yet uncomplicated and clear case for this. One does have to wonder if this is too easy. Will it work for managing all types of people in all types of organizations? How about the slackers? Or the employee who is the wrong fit for the job, doesn't have the appropriate training, or lacks motivation? How about the company with a long tradition of top-down management style? The book doesn't get mired in the details or specifics of every possible variation or situation; instead it attempts to provide the general strategies of effective management. The simple message of the book is to focus on making people feel valued which will lead to greater self-motivation and increased productivity for the individual and organization. As the One Minute Manager best described it, "People who feel good about themselves produce good results." And because they are not difficult to understand, learn, or implement, the skills can be readily used by most managers immediately.

The book is not only for managers of people. The message from the book is relevant to anybody interacting with people or when managing your own work and life. For example, I can utilize the skills to not only manage the people who report to me, but also in working with my colleagues or my supervisor, although the lesson on reprimanding may be less applicable in such situations. The most useful setting to apply the skills, perhaps, is when teamwork is involved, such as in committees, meetings, and group projects. This is when setting goals and timelines are critical and working effectively with colleagues, including giving praise and constructive criticism, is paramount to success. Furthermore, I can even see me being a One Minute Manager to myself, be it in the work environment, personal life, educational pursuits, or participation in hobbies. Who wouldn't want to be happier and have better results in all of these activities? I wouldn't mind impressing my boss more, fulfilling all my New Year's resolutions, or running a marathon in 3 hours and 15 minutes. After reading "The One Minute Manger", most readers will want to be a One Minute Manager tomorrow.

Rating:
Summary: Good Advice for Today's Leader
Review: 'The One Minute Manager', written in 1981 by highly-regarded author and consultant Kenneth H. Blanchard and by Spencer Johnson, is an excellent book on improving management effectiveness and employee productivity. And, while increased 'knowledge worker' efficiency may have made it simple enough in the 80s and early 90s for companies to simply dismiss below-average workers (they didn't require replacing, as fewer total knowledge workers were required to perform the same tasks as before), the 21st century challenge will be to optimize the performance of employees already in the organization, as profitable businesses will likely need to replace dismissed workers. This will involve improved management practices, such as the ones espoused in this book.

'One Minute Manager' is very short (can be read in less than one hour), yet has the potential to greatly improve management efficiency. The book discusses three 'secrets' -- one minute goals, one minute praising, and one minute reprimands. To briefly summarize, the theory espoused in the book is for the manager to set one-page goals with each employee for the top 20% of tasks which, according to Pareto, account for 80% of the productivity of the employee. Next, the manager follows up with either immediate one minute praise or an immediate behavior-based (rather than personal) one minute reprimand. The praise is designed to focus the employee behavior toward continuous improvement. As such, a less-capable employee (typically a newer one) would receive praise for lesser accomplishments than would a more seasoned one. The reprimand is to reinforce the goals of the organization.

The theories made a lot of sense. They espouse the true vision of 'leadership', which is to guide the organization in a specific direction, toward specific goals and achievement. I recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership or effectiveness.

Rating:
Summary: Brief but powerful...
Review: ...just started a new part time job and I read this because the owner found it to be extremely influential in her management style. This book is lickety-split-quick. I read it in about two hours. The story is a fable about a young man who wants to meet the ideal manager, who turns about to be a "one-minute-manager", a composite taken from the authors' research. This book illustrates simple principles in an accessible way with focus on goal setting, affirmation, and effective, though caring, criticism when goals are not met.

For me, this is an effective book as this is a new area of research focus for me. If you're starting out with management techniques or understanding management techniques, then books like this provide accessible points of entry into the field. Ultimately, the book struggles with two flaws that reduce my rating. First, I would like to have more access to the research that generated the one-minute-manager. Without that research this book can be viewed as a fictional fable rather than a practical one. Second, I feel that while effective, several of the techniques are not practical for American business. I asked my dad, a Wharton grad, about this book, and he said that it was in vogue for a while in the 1980s and then lost its influence in ways that books like "The Seven Habits of Effective People" did not. I feel that the reason the book fails is that it treats American employees and employers like rational, grounded individuals. If you read the Wall Street Journal and the newspapers, you realize that Americans are irrational beings and that this ideal is not always practical. Setting goals with a person that has been marginalized culturally, spiritually, economically, and socially is too reductionist an approach. I'm very interested in programs and management styles that will work with difficult employees, the one's that currently sap the strength of most of the large businesses in corporate America and the large institutions such as our public schools. I think that books like "The One Minute Manager" are best for start ups and new blood who want to impose a new corporate culture on a blank slate. For the majority of businesses that are established and trying to dramatically change course, the ideas in this book will be helpful, but not immediately applicable.

--4 stars
--SD

Rating:
Summary: Here's what I think...
Review: A simple, straightforward story that provides handy advice for anyone who has to manage people. To boot, most should be able to finish it in a few hours time. Truly a classic, I give it 5 stars easy. Other self-help books I liked include "The No- Beach, No-Zone, No-Nonsense Weight Loss Plan, A Pocket Guide To What Works. Happy reading!

Rating:
Summary: I want to be managed like this
Review: As I have seen among employees in different jobs that I have had, too often is the employee left to figure out his/her own job expectations. When an employee experiences this feeling of insecurity, it is usually the trigger for many other undesired exhibited behaviors which soon follow. Lack of motivation, lack of initiative, competing for the boss' attention, and trying to adopt someone else's talent rather than using one's own strengths to benefit the organization are a few of those behaviors seen. Written job descriptions and performance evaluations are at times too vague in letting the employee know how to plan or work through their day-to-day operation. With the concept of One Minute Goal Setting, a powerful tool for invoking motivation is born. The employee feels like he/she has responsibility for a task, the task and the goal is written down and performance against the goal is frequently checked. Success with the goal is then measurable.
One Minute Praising is another concept of great benefit. More than just providing feedback, it becomes a wonderful tool for reinforcing positive behavior or results, i.e. usually seen as quantity or quality work. The employee feels a sense of fulfillment and importance, knowing that his/her work made an impact or made a difference. It also allows the manager to currently share how he/she feels about the work rather than wait or most likely forget to mention it at the time of the employee's performance evaluation. Out of the three concepts, I think this technique builds employee confidence the most. When one feels confident, one is able to set higher standards for himself/herself. Higher standards develop the attitude for working with excellence.
Similarly, One Minute Reprimands "nip things in the bud." Undesired behaviors are curbed and discouraged and because of the seriousness in which the situation is handled, most employees will want to avoid getting reprimanded. Two important and notable aspects of the reprimand is that the behavior of the employee is addressed, not the employee's worth. The reprimand is also not based on "hearsay" but rather on what has been evidenced by the manager himself. Therefore, using this technique, feelings of resentment are not fostered between the employee and the manager.

I found this book to be very inspiring. Though I am not yet a manager, these concepts can be used at home, with family, as well as at work with my fellow employees - especially when we work together on projects. They can be even be used with the managers who currently supervise me. The principles are reciprocal and universal. This is how I would want to be managed and this is the way I would like to manage. Great book!

Rating:
Summary: Great book for anyone of any age group, any occupation...
Review: Book written by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, it has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide and that just says how successful this book is. It covers the three essential elements of being a high-speed and efficient manager. I also like the "business story" format. In today's world, many new supervisors are thrust into a "baptism by fire" management environment. I found this book to be an easy to read guide that arms newcomers to management with the basic tools for building worker relationships and getting the best out of their staff. Consequently, their efforts are guided into decisions that generate increasingly positive outcomes in uncomfortable situations. Self-confidence builds and leadership and management styles improve.

Rating:
Summary: Simply a Classic! -- Required Reading for any Leader!
Review: I finally ordered this book to see for myself if all the hype was true. After reading through the pages very quickly (it only took a couple of brief sittings), I was thoroughly impressed. Blanchard and Johnson truly have a classic here, a volume that fulfills its high expectations.

The key to the success of this book is the combination of its simplicity and its practicality. Three lessons are given to managers: the one-minute goal, the one-minute praising, and the one-minute reprimand. The material is presented in a parable-like format, which makes the concepts even easier to grasp.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For the small price paid and the short time required to read it from cover to cover, it is a superb investment. If you are any type of leader or manager, READ THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Ken Blanchard hits another home run
Review: I had put off reading this book because of the idea that management can't occur in one minute. Wrong. While it takes much longer to become a good manager, the tiny minutes in a day gives us ample opportunity to manage people for positive results. This book isn't rocket science. It's written in Ken Blanchard's sensible, easy to read parable format that makes it as much fun to read as it is insightful. Managers, whether aspiring, new or old-hands will find something that challenges them to be better working with their people. I suggest you make it required reading for your management staff.

Rating:
Summary: I like what he said....
Review: I heard the One-Minute Manager on audio tape a number of years ago and I liked what Ken said. "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." Awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Even More Valuable Now
Review: I read this book almost immediately after it was first published more than 20 years ago and recently re-read it, curious to learn how well it has held up over the years. In fact, I hold it in higher regard now than I did before because Blanchard and Johnson focus on certain core principles which (if anything) are more relevant today than ever before. Specifically, they offer an allegory in which they use the metaphor of a single minute to suggest how to set goals, praise achievers, and reprimand non-achievers within a brief period of time. It is probably human nature to over-explain. (How often have you asked someone for the correct time and received an explanation of how a watch works?) I agree with Blanchard and Johnson that much of our precious time is wasted during interaction which is out of focus. We waste others' time. They waste ours. Group meetings are unproductive. One-on-one conversations fail to achieve their desired objectives. We also waste time when thinking about what we do and how we do it, about what others do and how they do it, and about unsatisfactory results when working with others.

Blanchard and Johnson draw heavily upon their extensive research in medicine and the behavioral sciences. What they share in this book is organized within 16 brief chapters. In the first, they introduce a "bright young man" who is searching for an effective manager from whom he can learn how to become one himself. In the last, the young man (who by then had become a One Minute Manager) is about to share with a young women the same "gift" which he had previously received from others. "I will make only one request of you." Blanchard and Johnson make the same request of those who read this book.

For whom will The One Minute Manager be most valuable? Good question. My initial response is to recommend it to those who want to increase their organization's productivity and profits as well as their own prosperity. In other words, to almost everyone. In fact, my opinion is that many of them (for whatever reasons) will not be receptive. Why? Perhaps they reject any ideas presented within an allegory. Or perhaps they strongly disagree with Blanchard and Johnson about what can be accomplished in only a minute.

I think it is a thoughtful. well-written, immensely practical book. Just as in my review of Spencer Johnson's The One Minute Sales Person I recommended that sales managers provide a copy of it to each new salesperson, I now strongly recommend that management supervisors provide a copy of The One Minute Manager to anyone for whom they become responsible. I also think that senior-level executives would be well-advised to re-read both books from time to time. Dust and rust do accumulate, don't they?