Notes on The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

Matt Mochary, author of The Great CEO Within, has every member of his team read The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, so I figured I should check it out too. It was a super quick read and very to the point and insightful. Nothing earth shattering or new but just some simple lessons clearly and succinctly explained. A nice reminder of what's essential in both managing and being a member of a team.

It was told as a story of someone meeting a remarkable manager and hearing from his teammates how he manages in a unique way. That storytelling style reminded me of The Goal, which is written in a similar style and focuses on operations and production/supply chain issues. The "One Minute" title is catchy and reminded me of Tim Ferriss's series of 4-Hour books, which I'm a big fan of also.

The "One Minute Manager" is basically about three secrets: one minute goals, one minute praisings, and one minute redirects (basically, goal setting plus the right ways to handle positive and negative feedback).

I understand why Matt considers the book required reading for all his teammates. My main notes and takeaways are below.

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​The search
Managing results vs people
Autocratic vs democratic

The new one minute manager
Facilitates weekly meeting for team to review progress of last week and decide on plan for this week
Both results oriented and people oriented
People who feel good about themselves produce good results
Don’t make decisions for others they can make themselves

The first secret: one minute goals
Agree on together with manager
Describe on one page
80/20 rule
80% of results from 20% of goals
Only write down the 20%
3-5 goals
Check goals by yourself
Managing self
When identify problem, need to know what you want to be happening instead first
Teach employees to solve problems themselves by asking themselves questions and considering potential solutions
Plan goals together and describe them briefly and clearly
Show people what good performance looks like
Have people write out each goal on single page with due dates
Review most important goals daily
Encourage people to look at what doing and see if behavior matches goals
If it doesn’t, encourage them to rethink what doing so it matches goals

The second secret: one minute praises
Crystal clear feedback
Wouldn’t be comfortable for each of us
Send in progress reports so manager could catch you doing something right especially at beginning of task 
Tell you what you did right and how it made manager feel
Encourage you to keep up the good work
Consistent to employee regardless of what happened to manager elsewhere
Mostly during new project or responsibility. Later manager more hands off
Employee starts praising self

One minute praisings
Praise as soon as possible when earned
Let people know what you did right. Be specific
Let people know how it made you feel
Pause to let people feel good about what they’ve done
Encourage more of the same to build confidence
Help employees become managers themselves 

Third secret: one minute redirects
How to respond when someone does something wrong
Correct mistakes when they occur
Helps you learn
Quick to respond upon mistakes
First clarify goal and take responsibility if it wasn’t clear before
First half focuses on mistake and second half on person
Confirm facts, tell how feels and impact on results
Then quiet for a few seconds
Remind that employee better than the mistake and that has confidence 
Say expect no repeat of mistake and look forward to working with them
Initial redirects should be mild to not discourage
Don’t ask manager to make decision for you
Encourage others to speak up if manager makes mistake to prevent error in future 
Keep sense of humor and laugh at self and encourage good work

One minute redirect
Redirect as soon as possible after mistake
Confirm facts first and be specific 
Express how you feel about impact on results
Pause to let people feel concerned about what happened
Let them know you think they’re better than the mistake and think well of them as a person
Remind that you Have confidence and trust in them and their success
Realize when redirect is over it’s over

New one minute manager explains
The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people

Why one minute goals work
Biggest motivator is feedback and results and knowing how you’re doing
Everyone is a potential winner. Some are disguised as losers. Don’t let them fool you. 
Hire winners or those with intention to become winners and help develop them
Daily reminder to look at goals and what doing and see if they match

Why one minute praising a work
Need to give praises for little steps of progress
Catch them doing something approximately right in beginning then over time refine it
Don’t wait for exactly right in beginning
Punishment doesn’t work with someone who is learning

Why one minute redirects work
Feedback in small doses
Don’t store up until frustration builds
Deal with one behavior at a time
Not just once per year performance review but continuous
Get rid of bad behavior but keep the good person
Tough and nice in that order
First tough on behavior then nice on person
We are not just our behavior. We are the person managing the behavior. 
Better to be honest with people than manipulate
Care about people and results together
Have to care enough to be tough
If person repeats mistakes and won’t do better then let go
People should feel like they work with the manager not for him
People should feel like they Work for themselves 
Speak brief important truths

New one minute manager’s game plan
Let people know up front what you will do to help them win
Show what good behavior looks like
Put goals on one page
Review goals frequently
Encourage people to review what doing and see if it matches goals
Give one minute praisings
Do it soon
Say how it makes you feel
Pause
encourage them to keep up good work
Give one minute redirects
Clarify and confirm goals
Clarify what happened
Describe mistake soon
Say how concerned you feel
Pause to let them feel it
Say how much you value them
When it’s over it’s over

Gift to yourself

Gift to others