The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. William Morrow. 2015. 98 pages.
****

The original One Minute Manager book was written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson in 1982, and has sold 15 million copies in more than 40 languages. For this new edition, the authors write:

“The world has changed since the publication of the original One Minute Manager. Today, organizations must respond faster, with fewer resources, to keep up with ever-changing technology and globalization. But, just as the world has changed, so has the One Minute Manager. He has a new, more collaborative approach to leading and motivating people. When he first started teaching his Three Secrets, top-down leadership was a way of life. These days effective leadership is more of a side-by-side relationship.”

The authors also state that today people look for more fulfillment in their work, want to feel engaged and make meaningful contributions. The New One Minute Manager must use a new approach in this changing world.

This helpful quick read is written in a concise story about a bright young man who hears about a special manager that people like to work for and they produce great results together. When people apply the manager’s principles to their personal lives, they got great results as well. The young man decides to seek out the manager, who tells him about three secrets to One Minute Management. Those secrets are:

1. One Minute Goals
2. One Minute Praisings
3. One Minute Re-Directs (a new version of the original third secret, a One Minute Reprimand).

Some of my favorite quotes from the book were:

• We believe in the 80/20 rule. That is, 80% of your really important results will come from 20% of your goals. So we set One Minute Goals on only that 20%—that is, our key areas of responsibility—maybe three to five goals.
• We used to be a top-down managed company, which worked in its time. But today that structure is too slow. It doesn’t inspire people and it stifles innovation. Customers demand quicker service and better products, so we need everyone to contribute their talent. The brainpower isn’t only in the executive office—it can be found throughout the organization.
• So I care about people and results, because they go hand in hand.
• Encourage people to take a minute to look at what they’re doing, and see if their behavior matches their goals. If it doesn’t, encourage them to re-think what they’re doing so they can realize their goals sooner.
• When he notices you have done something right, he tells you precisely what you did right, and how good he feels about it. Then he reinforces the praise by encouraging you to keep up the good work.
• Goals make clear what is most important to focus on, Praisings build confidence that helps you succeed, and Re-Directs address mistakes. And all three of these help people feel better about themselves and produce good results.
• The most important—and natural—thing to do to help people become winners is to catch them doing something approximately right in the beginning. Then you move on toward the desired result.”
• If managers would address things earlier, they could deal with one behavior at a time and the person would not be overwhelmed. They’d be more likely to hear the feedback the way it was intended. That’s why I think performance review should be an ongoing process, not something you do only once a year.”
• Making mistakes is not the problem. It’s not learning from them that causes real problems.