The One Minute Manager

'The One Minute Manager' by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, is, as said by the Tag Line.... The Short Book That Has Big Results.

                                

And sure enough, it's a slim and crisp book.......with powerful content. It's a management book of three basic elements, in essence, to enable people to be in the flow. 

1) Goal Setting: Let people clearly know what their goals are

Write out your goals on a single sheet of paper, something that can be read within a minute, and read and reread them every once in a while to know your behavior matches your goal.

2) Help People Reach Their Full Potential...Catch Them Doing Something Right

People who feel good about themselves...Produce Good Results.

Tell people right from the start that you are going to let them know how they are doing. Praise people immediately, and be specific in telling them what they did right.

Let them know how good you feel about what they did right....pause to let them 'feel' how good you feel about what they did. 

3) Reprimand when there's a mistake

We are not just our behavior, We are the person managing our behavior.

Reprimand immediately, and be specific. Tell people how you 'feel' about what they did wrong and in no uncertain terms. Let them feel how you feel.

But also right away let them know that the reprimand is of their behavior and not about them; let them know you value them. Realize that when the reprimand is over, it's over.

Those are the three principles.

I also like the analogy he uses when asked to explain why this management method works. The author, Ken, explaining it to a listener:

Ken: 'One night, I was bowling and I saw some of the 'problem employees' at work from my last organization. One of the real problem people, whom I remembered all too well, took the bowling ball and approached the line and rolled the ball. Then he started to scream and yell and jump around. Why do you think he was so happy?'

Listener: 'Because he got a strike, he had knocked down all pins'

Ken: Exactly. 'Why don't you think he and other people are that excited at work?'

Listener: Because, he doesn't know where the pins are. I get it. How long would he want to bowl if there were no pins?

Ken: Right. Now you can see what happens in most organizations. I believe that most managers know what they want their people to do. They just don't bother to tell their people in a way they would understand. They assume they should know. Never assume anything when it comes to goal setting.

It's like having the pins up when the bowler goes to roll the ball, but there is a sheet across the pins. So when he rolls the ball, and it slips under the sheet, he hears a crack but doesn't know how many pins he's knocked down. Plus there's a supervisor standing behind the sheet.

And when he knocks down two pins, and typical supervisor will tell him, 'there are eight you missed'

Doesn't work like that. The topmost motivator for people is Feedback on results. "Feedback is the breakfast of champions" Goals Begin Behaviors and Consequences Maintain Behaviors.

The book is said to have sold more than 13 million copies and has been translated into 37 languages, so while seemingly simplistic, there must be something to it.