The Managerial Moment of Truth: The Essential Step in Helping People Improve Performance [Hardcover]

Bruce Bodaken (Author), Robert Fritz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

One of the most difficult problems for managers to address is substandard work, where performance is weak enough to warrant improvement but not so bad as to justify termination. Too often, managers react by developing "workarounds," such as shifting the workload to the high performers. After all, they don't have time to supply corrections in the face of every minor mistake or ineffective work habit, right? Wrong. As CEO Bruce Bodaken and bestselling author Robert Fritz demonstrate, it's precisely by facing reality early that managers can have the most impact. When they ignore small slip-ups, to avoid confrontation or simply save time, managers sow the seeds for far bigger confrontations and overreactions down the line, by which time real change is almost impossible. Bodaken applied these methods to his company, Blue Shield of California, with astounding results, helping it grow from a $3 billion company five years ago to a $7 billion company today. This commonsense yet revolutionary book, which includes a foreword by Peter Senge, author of the mega bestseller THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE (Random House), will enable every manager to set up a fairer and more efficient organization - one in which employees learn to rely on each other and become committed to helping the company succeed, grow and win.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The inherent awkwardness of evaluating an employee's or team's performance may cause managers to avoid confrontation altogether, resulting in work not done right, tension between employees and unnecessary strain on high performers. In this guide, Bodaken, CEO of Blue Shield of California, and Fritz (Corporate Tides) delineate a methodology of "truth telling'' in order to curb bad habits early on and institutionalize good behaviors. A proper approach to "managerial moments of truth" (MMOTs)—which the authors define as a manager's awareness of her unmet expectations, followed by the decision about how to handle them—will add capacity without cost, Bodaken and Fritz claim. Their four-step technique first requires manager and employee to "acknowledge the truth" or agree on what happened. Then they analyze together how the situation occurred, establish an action plan and finally put a feedback system in place. The book provides a variety of case studies, which show how to provide individual feedback and team evaluations, plus how to deal with repeat offenders or an employee/team mismatch. With dozens of sample conversations throughout, the authors present an action-oriented communication technique they believe will improve the managerial process and thus a company's "performance, productivity, and creativity." (May 2)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The truth, or so the maxim goes, will set you free. Blue Shield of California CEO Bodaken and author (The Path as Least Resistance, 1999, among others) Fritz take that statement quite a few steps further, emphasizing that only fact-based conversations about issues--among individuals, teams, leadership, and organizations--with three follow-up actions will change substandard or wrong performances. In fact, for CFO types, they point to truth as a competitive advantage; with Blue Shield as the Managerial Moment of Truth (MMOT) guinea pig, the results added anywhere from 25 to 40 percent to organizational capacity. Three case studies in dialogue format and very explicit directions throughout provide good models to adapt; furthermore, Bodaken and Fritz anticipate possible resistance--"I have no time" or "The behavior wasn't bad enough" (add your own here)--and demonstrate practical, realistic responses. From this and other newly added books to the business shelf, the trend in thought leadership seems to be moving from the obscure and jargon filled to simple, straight, and comprehensive. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743288521
• ISBN-13: 978-0743288521
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "gestalt" of mutual exploration and learning, February 7, 2007

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Managerial Moment of Truth: The Essential Step in Helping People Improve Performance (Hardcover)

Here's the core concept: the "managerial moment of truth" (MMOT) occurs when a supervisor and someone for whom she or he is directly responsible share a face-to-face interaction during which both are completely honest with each other about a given situation or issue. These interactions can involve praise and recognition for performance "above and beyond the call of duty," constructive criticism offered in response to unacceptable performance or inappropriate behavior, or collaboration on the solution of a problem or obtaining an answer to an especially important question. These and other interactive situations offer unique, potentially invaluable learning opportunities to create a shared experience during which important truth is revealed.

In this volume, Bruce Bodaken and Robert Fritz explain how the "managerial moment of truth approach" - one of mutual exploration and learning - can achieve and then sustain a decisive competitive advantage for any organization, regardless of its size or nature. They assert - and I wholly agree - that all managers must decide whether or not to ignore or explore especially important performance issues, especially in today's world where change is the only constant, especially in the workplace. They focus on how to prepare for and then create moments of "unvarnished" truth of substantial benefit to an individual, work teams, cross-discipline teams, senior management, subcontractor relationships, and strategic alliances. "Today, organizations are faced with sudden shifts in marketplace realities, migrating economics, and the lightning speed of globalization. The organizations that can deal with these changing realities have the best prospect for survival... Those organizations that cannot `handle the truth' will be left in the dust."

Of special interest to me is what Bodaken and Fritz provide in Chapter 7, "The Art of the Question: Exploring Reality." They correctly insist that to obtain the most important answers, it is necessary to ask the right questions. They identify four types of questions that can help to penetrate and reveal reality: information ("to expand the picture when we conduct a MMOT"), clarification ("to help define imprecise or unknown terms"), implication ("to recognize what is implied, and ask the person if it is true") and discrepancy ("to sort out contradictions"). There are two separate but related challenges: to ask the right type of question, and, to persist until a truthful and sufficient answer to it has been obtained. "Questions are a powerful tool for true dialogue and exploration. They enable us to see far beyond our usual vantage point. They guide us through new territories. They open new worlds of possibilities. They are the keys to the MMOT."

In the Foreword, Peter Senge describes the MMOT as "an elegant method that could have a significant impact in terms of "acknowledging present reality, examining people's thinking about hot it got that way, creating a plan for what needs to change, [and] establishing a feedback system to track improvement against that plan." Bodaken and Fritz suggest that those who are convinced of the value of the MMOT try it in small and simple situations first and dedicate themselves to the follow-through. Sense's advice also makes sense. "Do not expect others to implement what you yourself do not. Do not become an advocate for others to change their behavior. Become a practitioner of the managerial moment of truth yourself and ask others around you to help you be a good one." Senge then suggests that those unwilling and/or unable to do so, who "are not ready for this," set this book aside.

In all human communities, trust is the "glue" which holds them together and is almost entirely based on truth in the relationships between and among those involved. Bodaken and Fritz explain in this volume how the MMOT can improve on-the-job performance, of course, but in process will help to strengthen the aforementioned "glue" in ways and to an extent that otherwise would not be possible.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The competitive advantage of truth telling, May 8, 2006

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Lynn Harris (Montreal, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Managerial Moment of Truth: The Essential Step in Helping People Improve Performance (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book that would benefit any manager or leader to read. It tackles the current hot topic of integrity and honesty in corporate life in a very practical and user-friendly way. The simple 'form' provided by Bodaken and Fritz not only provides a very accessible way for managers and leaders to dramatically improve the performance of their people, but also illustrates how to create a high performance organizational culture and leverage competitive advantage through people. The success of the Managerial Moment of Truth in the Blue Shield organization adds credibility and weight to the approach. I recommend this book to all leaders, managers and coaches.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book Which Resonates, August 25, 2006

By 

J. Throop Robinson (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Managerial Moment of Truth: The Essential Step in Helping People Improve Performance (Hardcover)

Managerial Moment of Truth has made a great contribution to the literature and practice of performance management. I have worked in this field for 20 years and the process suggested by the authors is brilliant in it's simplicity and focus.

I have already bought dozens of copies for my clients and in evey instance my clients have loved it! It resonates with them as it deals with the "real" world, the everyday world faced by all managers. It also offers managers clear guidelines for having the conversations that are necessary to achieve what's most important for the organization and for the people within it.