High Output Management is a classic management book by Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel. It’s often mentioned by Silicon Valley types as one of their favourite books, yet it’s not well-known or widely available in the mainstream: I had to read it as a paperback (for the first time in years) because there’s no Kindle version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It really is a brilliant book: precise, simple, and logically ordered. Grove makes a new idea “land” in a short sentence, where other writers might take a whole chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These notes were written for my reference, so focus only on the ideas that are particularly relevant to me. If you like the look of what you see, I strongly recommend reading the book in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The core insight is that a manager\u2019s output is equal to the output of the organisation under him or her<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This neatly clarifies what “the point” of a manager is. Their role isn’t just to supervise so things don’t descend into chaos, or to report up the chain, or to “do the work” to a high standard so others can turn to them for help if needed. Their role is to take actions that increase the output of those in their team to a point far beyond what it would be if no manager were present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managers should therefore be selecting activities that bring about the greatest potential increase in team output \u2013 which Grove calls “high leverage” activities \u2013 and performing them well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this framing, meetings \u2013 often seen as a waste of time that get in the way of proper work being done \u2013 are, in Grove’s words, “the medium through which managerial work is performed”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For every activity a manager performs, the output of the organisation should increase by some degree.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The art of management lies in the capacity to select from the many activities of seemingly comparable significance the one or two or three that provide leverage well beyond the others and concentrate on them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n There are three basic ways in which managers can achieve leverage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grove notes that leverage can be negative<\/strong>. If a manager meddles and micro-manages, their subordinate might show less initiative in future and therefore be less effective. Similarly, arriving unprepared for a meeting and asking basic questions will reduce the effectiveness of the group’s time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grove has a rule-of-thumb that each subordinate should get about half a day of a manager’s time per week, so a maximum of six to eight subordinates is about right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Delegation without follow-through is abdication. You can never wash your hands of a task. Even after you delegate it, you are still responsible for its accomplishment, and monitoring the delegated task is the only practical way for you to ensure a result. <\/p> Monitoring is not meddling, but means checking to make sure an activity is proceeding in line with expectations. Because it is easier to monitor something with which you are familiar, if you have a choice you should delegate those activities you know best…this will very likely go against your emotional grain<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n As Grove says here, the natural instinct is to hold on to the tasks you do best (and perhaps do better than anyone else), and delegate the rest. In fact though, there’s greater leverage in delegating tasks you can monitor well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He introduces the concept of task-relevant<\/strong> maturity<\/strong> to decide how closely someone should be monitored. It’s not to do with how competent they are in general<\/em>, but rather how experienced they are at the specific task. You might therefore check in with someone only monthly for a task they’ve established high competence at in the past, but monitor the same person weekly for something that’s new to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Low<\/strong> maturity: Structured, task-oriented, tell \u201cwhat\u201d \u201cwhen\u201d \u201chow When does monitoring become meddling?<\/strong> Grove compares it with quality assurance principles: just as a factory only samples some of the items that come off the production line to get an insight into how the machine is performing, a manager should just randomly dive into some of the details to “spot check” that everything is as it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A medium is nothing less than the medium through which managerial work is performed. That means we should not be fighting their very existence, but rather using the time spent in them as efficiently as possible<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n There are two main types of meeting: process-orientated and mission-orientated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Process-orientated meetings are organised as part of a regular routine, and involve the sharing of information about how regular business is proceeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are three types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These take place between an employee and his manager. They’re used for the manager to pass on her experience and share suggestions for how things could be done, and also for her to gain an understanding of what’s happening and how it’s going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If held weekly a single hour’s one-to-one can affect 40 hours of work, so it’s a high-leverage activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Staff meetings are held between a supervisor and all her subordinates, so there’s the opportunity for interaction between peers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They allow the supervisor to learn from the discussion and any conflict that is involved. As Grove says, “I get a much better understanding of an issue with which I am not familiar by listening to two people with opposing views discuss it than I do by listening to one side only”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are used for employees to present work to managers who aren’t their immediate supervisors, as well as their peers elsewhere in the company. They’re used to keep teaching and learning happening across the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mission-orientated meetings are held ad-hoc, and designed to product a specific output \u2013 usually a decision. If all is going well, you should never have to call a mission-orientated meeting because it’s all taken care of in regularly scheduled process meetings. At most, they should make up no more than 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The output of a planning process isn’t a document \u2013 it’s the set of tasks it causes to be implemented to affect future<\/em> events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today\u2019s gap represents a failure of planning some time in the past. By analogy, forcing ourselves to concentrate on the decisions needed to fix today\u2019s problem is like scurrying after our car has already run out of gas. Clearly we should have filled up earlier. To avoid such a fate, remember that as you plan you must answer the question: What do I have to do TODAY to solve \u2013 or better, avoid \u2013 TOMORROW’s problem.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n MBO is a planning tool that is based around two questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you need to be at the airport to catch a flight in an hour: that’s the objective. The key results to make sure you’re on track are reaching Town A in 15 minutes, and Town B in 40 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grove says there are only two reasons for poor performance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The test to establish which is: if someone’s life depended on doing the work, could he do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As these are the only two factors affecting output, the manager can only affect output through training <\/strong>and motivation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On training:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For training to be effective, it has to maintain a reliable, consistent presence. Employees should be able to count on something systematic and scheduled, not a rescue effort summoned to solve the problem of the moment. In other words training should be a process, not an event.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n On motivation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Motivation has to come from within somebody. Accordingly, all a manager can do is create an environment in which motivated people can flourish.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My notes from the business classic High Output Management \u2013 covering meetings, planning, delegation, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHigh leverage activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How many subordinates should a manager have?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Delegation as leverage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Medium<\/strong> maturity: Individual-oriented; emphasis on two way communication, support, mutual reasoning
High<\/strong> maturity: Involvement by manager minimal, establishing objectives and monitoring<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nMeetings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Process-orientated meetings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One-on-Ones<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Staff meetings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Operation reviews<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mission-orientated meetings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Planning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Management By Objectives (MBO)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reviews<\/h2>\n\n\n\n