The One Minute Manager [Paperback]

Kenneth Blanchard (Author), Spencer Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 15, 1986

The blockbuster #1 national bestselling phenomenon is back... not that it ever really went away. An easily-read story which quickly demonstrates three very practical management techniques, it also includes information on several studies in medicine and in the behavioral sciences, which help readers understand why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. The book is brief, the language is simple, and best of all...it works.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D., is one of the most recognizable names in American business today. His One Minute Manager® Library has sold over nine million copies worldwide. He is also an award-winning speaker and business consultant.

Spencer Johnson, M.D., is the author of the runaway hit, Who Moved My Cheese?. Eleven million of his books are in print in 26 different languages.

From AudioFile

The One-Minute Manager, adapted from Blanchard's classic book which sold more than a million copies, is a parable about a young man in search of world-class management skills. The authors' message is so simple it's brilliant: a "One-Minute Manager" achieves positive results with a minimum of time and effort by being communicative and consistent. Areas covered include goal-setting, motivating, training, praising and even reprimanding employees. Key points are effectively recapped by co-author Johnson at the end of the tape. D.M.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 111 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; 10th Edition edition (July 15, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425098478
• ISBN-13: 978-0425098479
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (305 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Business & Investing > Business Life > Motivation & Self-Improvement
  • #50 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Management
  • #50 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Motivational

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

258 of 265 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Short to Read, Big on Wisdom February 18, 2008

By tannercpa

Format:Hardcover

I really liked this book, but for the same reasons I liked it, some may hate it.

First of all, it's an easy read, and it gets its points across by telling a story. Other books, such as The Sixty-Second Motivator, have also used this format succesfully, but this style may not appeal to everyone. To me, it makes the book a lot less boring to read.

Secondly, the book is short. The vast majority of readers will easily be able to read this book in a day. It has bigger font, which I personally liked and thought it made it a joy to read. However here again, some may be turned off by that and consider it to be too "child-like."

Thirdly, the book takes solid mangagerial info and gives it to the reader handily in the form of three "secrets." I found the advice to be very practical and while some may consider it far too simple, it can help you a lot IF you actually apply the info- which I suspect most managers do not.

In conclusion, I recommend this short business classic to anyone looking for better ways to improve their managerial skills. I doubt most will be disappointed. Also liked Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by the same author.

78 of 85 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Role Modeling of Communications and Motivation December 14, 1999

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

When most people become a manager for the first time, they are more than a little unsure of themselves. Naturally, they often use speech and ways of doing things that they have seen others use. That's great if their role models are good, but can be terrible otherwise.

The One Minute Manager provides a positive role model for those who have not yet seen one, and good reinforcement for those who have not seen one lately.

If organizations try to operate on the assumption that only the manager has ideas worth acting on, then very little will be accomplished. The One Minute Manager provides a useful model for opening up and stimulating the minds of everyone in the organization to accomplish more.

Not only is this advice worth following from an effectiveness point of view, it will also make you feel better about yourself as a manager and as a person when you follow it. And you will certainly make those who report to you feel a lot better, as well.

I like the use of a parable to help each of us reexamine ourselves, because it makes the reader feel less defensive. But be sure to remember what you gut instincts would have been in the same situations the One Minute Manager describes. Otherwise, you may miss the point of how much your behavior needs to change.

This is one of a handful of books well worth rereading annually.

Unlike most business books, this one is short and easy to read. The academic language has been banished, and it is well written.

If you want to go beyond The One Minute Manager to get even better results, you will have to learn and use other beneficial habits as well. But you can have all the great ideas in the world, and if you annoy and stifle everyone around you, not much will happen. So think of this book as necessary for more success, but not sufficient in and of itself for getting the utmost benefits in working with others.

62 of 71 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Advice, but 59 Minutes Too Long March 14, 2004

By Nate Johnson

Format:Paperback

Kenneth Blanchard's "The One Minute Manager" is a short book that should have either been much shorter or much longer. The longer version would have been supported with research and case studies to back up Blanchard's claims that the techniques are effective. For readers who don't need or want the supporting evidence, here is what the shorter version would look like:

1) Good managers are not micromanagers; they expect employees to take initiative and solve their own problems.

2) Good managers set goals for their employees that are brief and have clear performance standards and expectations.

3) Good managers look for opportunities to praise their employees because self-confident employees are happier and more productive. Employees learn to internalize praise.

4) Good managers are also quick and clear in providing feedback when something goes wrong. Reprimands are more effective when it is understood that managers think highly of their employees. (Presumably, if the "One-Minute Reprimands" happen too often, the employee will no longer work for the One-Minute Manager, so that ending reprimands with statements of the employee's value, as suggested, will always be sincere.)

That's about it.

All this is probably good advice. One of the bosses whose management style I most admired and who inspired me to a high level of performance was very much like the One Minute Manager in the book. I rarely saw him, but when I did, it was clear that he had been paying attention and that he valued my work.

But the storytelling format of the book--it's told by a naive young narrator who interviews the one-minute manager and his employees--draws a couple of pages of material out into a hundred page book. That's much less than many management self-help books, to be sure, and one gets the impression the author is trying to walk his talk. To Blanchard, management is more common sense than rocket science, and a long book would be a waste of time.

I like the idea that, in management as as in writing, less is often more. In many workplaces, memos, meetings, and manuals are about ten times as long as they need to be. We are bombarded with so much information that, what my bosses often want and what I appreciate most from my own employees, are good two-paragraph summaries of a week's worth of research. If they are done well, these summaries will take longer to research and write than a ten page report would have, but they save their readers time and actually produce a net gain in information.

But if Blanchard's book wants to be the Strunk and White guide to the boardroom--brevity, brevity, brevity--the book falls short. It took me almost an hour to read, which is 59 more than it should have.