Personal Copy signed by Jean Darnell

Business is specificity, and story is specificity; they’re not speculation—so I find it bizarre that this business fable (business story) should be so extreme in its abstraction, to the point where the text is literally like, Say you have a problem. So you try A, B, and C, and they don’t work. So combine A, B, and C; it’ll work. (That’s really where he lost me, lol.) And the (mysterious?) Manager and the (mysterious?) young man don’t have names…. I guess the theory is ‘sell to everyone’ and that’s a good seed of an idea, but I think people can tell the difference between selling to them too and being shy that they’re not too important to you, you know. But I would like to read more business fables—just not by this author. I just have trouble deleting things when I value the larger category it feeds, you know.

…. So, if something’s widely successful and it’s mediocre, does that mean it bears some responsibility for a crazy world? The average manager doesn’t need to be told to live more grey, you know—to be more emotionally vague, more unattractive…. He can figure out how to do that. Now, the market in a non-crazy world, well that would be a little different…. I know people think they’ve heard all that before: have more fun, etc. etc., but the reason why it’s not an “in” talking point now to some extent, besides the inevitable seasons of thought, you know, the cyclic-ness of everything, is that everything always fell on the women, you know. Possibly a singer making a lot of money, right. The manager’s job was just to wear a grey tie, smile a grey smile, and to feel vague, you know. I guess the rot at the root is that people think that if you weren’t unattractive you’d be more of singer or a drunk than a manager. It’s just folk delusion and has nothing to do with the potential of the market, though.

…. “Do not blame, or cause harm to sentient beings.” Of course; I agree. (beat) I blame the education system. (studio audience laughter). People who become managers aren’t any more likely than anybody else to know algebra, probably less, but the education system has trained the masses, not indeed in algebra, but to believe that to be successful you have to act like you knew algebra, you know—as though algebra were psychology and motivation and all the rest of it….

Sometimes the person who really believes in our education system is the MOST ignorant, as I indeed have been, at times—although the person who gets an ‘F’ in algebra usually absorbs at LEAST half of it, half of the emotional strategy, you know: at least the part that goes, “I’m a schmuck unless I feel grey inside; store managers shouldn’t be schmucks like me.” Of course, it’s not easy because the masses are very much divided; however, it seems like a bad sort of compromise to offer them as the system an elite designed to be equally reprehensible for everyone, you know. Which isn’t to say that sometimes the masses aren’t unreasonable. “For the high crime and misdemeanor of not being Trump, I, Clown Man, hereby impeach you, Biden, by a vote of 67-7.” ‘How did you get those numbers?’ “Oh, those are the voices inside my head.”…. But just to offer the people DMV Corp. (G-Man Corp., I mean), because the grey road is the road of least resistance…. I don’t know; is that really playing the long game?

…. He sorta gets some of the common problems in business organizations, but that is so not the same as inspiring people to do better or having what it takes to do a better job; ie, being brief is so not the same as being alive and something beyond just a rational computer in a business suit. And he so just doesn’t write stories well!

—Everything is rationality, young man—even the decision you have to make, whether or not to give a damn! 😀
—Wow, Manager! Since I’m just the author’s sock puppet just like you, I guess I’ll go ahead and agree with you! 😀

I hate to be negative, but the idea that normies might label this book as ‘positive thinking’ fills me with dread! 😹

Usa la forma della storia per raccontare piccoli approcci buoni per qualsiasi tipo di manager (o meglio: per manager senza troppe pretese e con poca voglia di leggere, data la scarsa mole del libro). Si potrebbe dire che è solo buon senso (l'obiettivo, la lode, la sgridata), ma quel che il libro dice è meno scontato di quel che si può pensare.
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Very short but very simple ( )

Simplistic but with some great gems, easy to pick out since it's a quick read.

KISS at it's top. ( )

I can see how this is a very influential book, with clear principles of management that are memorable. It is also an interesting social commentary on the 1980s. ( )

The struck me as insincere manipulation techniques. I like much better [b:The 59-Second Employee: How to Stay One Second Ahead of Your One-Minute Manager|630143|The 59-Second Employee How to Stay One Second Ahead of Your One-Minute Manager|Rae Andre|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348280609s/630143.jpg|616468] ( )

Since its initial publication in the early 1980s, The One Minute Manager has taught generations of leaders about effective, person-centered management. It's a quick book to read (I read it in under an hour), and is filled with wisdom regarding dealing with others, both at work and outside it. This original edition is a little dated (today, one would hope that managers would refrain from touching subordinates while giving reprimands) but is still recommended. ( )

There is this genre I call business fiction. The characteristics of the genre are as follows:

1. A Simple contrived narrative with a pedantic plod.
2. An aim at communicating common sense wisdom for the business world.
3. A healthy overlay of positive thinking.
4. characters you could care less about because they are one dimensional, mindless automatons sent by the author to fulfill his didactic purposes but do not breath, bleed, or have any life of their own.
5. Lots of slogans that would look nice on a plaque over your desk. Maybe a nice motivational poster.

Well truth be told, some authors in the genre have more quality than others. Not this one, but it distinguishes itself as providing the template for all such books that followed. Written thirty years ago, this New York Times bestseller, follows the adventures of a young man in search for the greatest management model in the universe. Presumably this is to rule the galaxy (though this is more implied than said). Some of the managers he observes are focused on people but not results. Others focus on results but screw people over. That is until he discovers the 'One Minute Manager.' A manager so named because he doesn't have to spend much time with his people. At all. A minute here and there will suffice.

Actually there is some helpful management advice:

1. Have employees write out a 250 word summary of their goals (main objectives) which you both keep on file. The process of clarifying things so that both managers and employees know what their objectives are means greater success and less communication is necessary.
2. The One Minute praise-Catch your employee doing something right and specifically praise them for that action and let them know how valuable it is for you.
3. The One minute reprimand-when employees do something wrong, immediately and specifically reprimand them for that action, though put it in the context of their overall good work.

This is all helpful advice in managing people. That way, they are clear on objectives, feel valued and know exactly where they screw up without having to deal with an angry build up. But really this is the entire substance of the book. Along the way the characters, spout off the same advice and show each other motivational messages on plaques. There is also a lot of advice about touching people to communicate you care. It isn't normally the case, but my guess is that this book would be much better as a movie. Wait for it. ( )

Good managers need to be concerned with both people and results. ( )

A small book, but a must read for everyone that needs to manage people. A sure recommendation. ( )

I read this over 15 years ago. "What gets rewarded is what gets done." is the one line I remember. ( )

I really do like these fable business books. They truly work for me. What's impressive with this one is that it's clear that piles and years of research were distilled down to a bare minimum for maximum relayability and efficiency. Certainly I gained a tool or two as I move up the management track in my career. ( )

The One Minute Manager
This short book is a classic that everyone should read. It outlines a simplistic approach to management that calls for managers to empower their employees while fostering open and positive communication. This is a book on management, not leadership. There is no information on whether or how a One Minute Manager communicates the company's vision, his own vision, or holds departmental meetings. My highlights:


"The One Minute Manager always makes it clear what our responsibilities are and what we are being held accountable for...(he) feels that a goal, and its performance standard, should take no more than 250 words to express. He insists that anyone be able to read it within a minute."

You create goals for the most important tasks-- for the 20% of your tasks that are 80% of your productivity or key responsibilities. If there is a special project that comes up, you set another concise goal for it. The manager doesn't micromanage, the manager and employee agree upon the goal and it's up to the employee to figure out how best to accomplish it.

One-Minute Praisings:
"Tell people up front that you are going to let them know how they are doing. 2. Praise people immediately. 3. Tell people what they did right—be specific. 4. Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there. 5. Stop for a moment of silence to let them “feel” how good you feel. 6. Encourage them to do more of the same. 7. Shake hands or touch people in a way that makes it clear that you support their success in the organization."

One-Minute Reprimands:
"1. Tell people beforehand that you are going to let them know how they are doing and in no uncertain terms. 2. Reprimand people immediately. 3. Tell people what they did wrong—be specific. 4. Tell people how you feel about what they did wrong—and in no uncertain terms. 5. Stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence to let them feel how you feel. 6. Shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets them know you are honestly on their side. 7. Remind them how much you value them. 8. Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation. 9. Realize that when the reprimand is over, it's over."

Every reprimand has two parts, the initial pointing out of the error and the personal affirmation at the end: "If you are first tough on the behavior, and then supportive of the person, it works."

Goals Begin Behaviors
Consequences Maintain Behavior
Also, the One Minute Manager never repeats himself as that's a waste of valuable time. That'd be nice but most bosses I've had tend to forget both what they've said and what I have previously told them.

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If you care for people they'll work for you - and that's the book.

Stages - One minute goal setting (gives the name); immediate and in sync praisings; immediate and in sync reprimands.

The one minute manager does not spend too much time micromanaging, instead only enters at these stages. ( )

Laughably oversimplified advice, for the most part very truthful and common sensical, that I'm sure works spectacularly in a healthy, homogeneous, and fully functional society that I'm having a hard time envisioning in today's world. Written in 1981, the type of managerial relationship portrayed here was already gone, it just hadn't evidenced itself yet. The advice contained within actually works better for dealing with children, specifically your own, when it comes to the much-stressed aspect of "touch" and "physical contact," otherwise the manager may be in for one of a dozen potential future lawsuits that I see arising from implementing some of the advice. ( )

Business, Management

This is the 1981-82 eidtion

The One Minute Manager written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson is one of the simplest ways to explain on how to plan, organize and reward people. It is not just applicable in large multinational corporations, but also in our daily lives.

If you have a father who likes to keep talking some sense into you, or you teacher who keeps motivating you to study or a boss who keeps telling you to do things in a right manner or a guru who tried to give you a spiritual path of enlightenment (or Moksh); then next one and half hour when you would be reading this book, you will all start realizing that the book just keep emphasizing all those points that have been told to you earlier in more structured manner.

The style of writing the book is to elucidate all the management concepts in the that one has studied and rephasizing on the importance of Goal Setting; giving individuals the opportunity to make their own decisions and reward them for it and repimanding behaviour and not people, if the deviate away from the objective or are unable to achieve it. Simple style of writing makes the concepts very easily understood and it makes you think, if you have diverted away from your path or no. It is inspiration, which will last for sometime, or untill you re-read it or read something else.

In the most simple terms, the three things that the book tells you is that
* Set your goals
* Reward people
* Reprimand people

On Manipulation
Hey, now that does not tell you everything about the book. You can still go ahead and read it. One of my question on manipulation got answered, after reading the book. Always thought that as public relations consultants we manipulate people emotions into achieving desirable goals for the orgnizations that we work for. My take from the book on manipulation is that if we inform everyone of our intentions and the objectives of the organization, then we would not manipulating them or making them think in terms of that we are using them. Manipulation is not just what organization decides to tell his employees and or hides from them, it is also which makes them think as what they want to achieve from the organization.

Question answered
Question that remains answered from the book is that on the concept of reprimanding people, it says that you do not target the people, you target their behaviour. That is something one will definately be very difficult to achieve cause your biases towards a person will surely creep in and the book subtly states that you would want to hold back shouting and getting back at people in more aggressive tone. Again, this also very difficult to achieve, even though knowing and understanding people, if they dont shout at you, they would surely be sarcastic about it.

Book easily available at all book stores at Rs. 125, you dont even wish to buy the pirated version of this book. Read it, get inspired and use the learning cause If you dont blow your own horn; someone else will use it as a spittoon. ( )

A quick read with some tips on dealing with people and subordinates. Gives some good insights. ( )

Very very quick read. A classic. Very simple to understand. Great for communication and goal setting. You can incorporate this mindset into your management right away. Highly recommend ( )

In spite of the rather insipid sermon-like quality to the whole work, I could not bring myself to actively dislike the book. I had thought that I’d read it once upon a time, but now think that this is not the case, and that instead I had read one of the book’s successors/shameless attempts by the authors to cash in on the minor fame engendered by the cutesy whole “one minute manager” business. Apparently Blanchard has been grinding out successors like sausage since that time, though I do not think any have been anywhere near as successful. And Spencer Johnson apparently found fame and fortune all over again with the truly frightening Who Moved my Cheese? Which I have not read, have no plans to read and would only read under threat of a red hot poker shoved deep inside my privates. But that is neither here nor there for purposes of this review.

review continued at my blog ( )

An extremely quick read about applying behaviorism to management. I think the title of this approach is highly sensational, it's not really about saving time but rather about effective behavior change. The format of the book was also neat at first, but overall felt like the authors were stacking the deck by creating fictional characters that loved the method. I enjoyed the 'plaques' in the book, and will keep them handy, but overall I'm not convinced that this method would work. I think employees would also be able to connect the dots to the roots of this method in behaviorism and feel used, like the pigeon getting grain. ( )