One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams, The Rev. (The One Minute Manager) (Hardcover)

by Ken Blanchard (Author), Eunice Parisi-Carew (Author) "THE One Minute Manager was staring out his office window..." (more)
Key Phrases: dissatisfaction stage, one minute manager, effective team leader, The Ken Blanchard Companies, Essentials of Management, Ron Tilman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Never before in the history of the workplace has the concept of teamwork been more important to the functioning of successful organizations. Ken Blanchard bestselling coauthor of Raving Fans, The One Minute Manager, and Gung Ho! teams up with Donald Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew to explain how all groups move through four stages of development on their way to becoming high performance teams -- orientation, dissatisfaction, integration, and production. The authors then show how a manager can help any group to become fully effective quickly and with hardly any stress.

The valuable addition to The One Minute Manager® Library is essential for anyone who works with groups and wants to build a high performing team.

Never before in the history of the workplace has the concept of teamwork been more important to the functioning of successful organizations. Bestselling author Ken Blanchard and his two collaborators explain how all groups move through four stages of development on their way to becoming a high performing team-Orientation, Dissatisfaction, Integration, and Production. They then show how a manager can help any group become fully effective sooner and with much less stress.

This valuable addition to The One Minute Manager. Library is essential for anyone who works with groups and wants to build a high performing team.

About the Author

Ken Blanchard, Ph.D., is a prominent, gregarious, sought-after author, speaker, and business consultant. He is usually characterized by friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful, and passionate men in business today. Blanchard's impact as a writer is far reaching. His perennial bestsellers include Raving Fans and Whale Done! He is the Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a full-service global management training and consulting company that he and his wife, Dr. Marjorie Blanchard, founded in 1979 in San Diego. He is also cofounder of The Center for FaithWalk Leadership, a nonprofit ministry committed to challenging and equipping people to Lead Like Jesus.

Susan Fowler is one of the world's foremost experts on personal empowerment and has spoken on the subject in all fifty of the United States and more than twenty foreign countries. With Ken Blanchard and Laurence Hawkins she created -- and is the lead developer of -- Situational Self Leadership;®, which focuses on empowerment and taking the initiative when you're not in charge. She is an adjunct professor for the University of San Diego's masters of science in executive leadership program.

Laurence Hawkins is an internationally renowned management consultant, motivational speaker, and -- with Ken Blanchard and Susan Fowler -- the coauthor of the Situational Self Leadership program. Hawkins received his bachelor's degree in American history and literature from Williams College and his master's and doctoral degrees in leadership and organizational behavior from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; Rev Sub edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688172156
• ISBN-13: 978-0688172152
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,016 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A clear start in understanding groups and team building, July 6, 2000

By	Jennifer Gove (Santa Clara, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The "One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams" delivers key concepts and strategies regarding group dynamics and team building in a quick-to-read, clear and concise form. In this respect the book is a cleverly crafted publication. If this was the aim of the authors (and I suspect it was) then it should be awarded 5 points. From my own point of view I'm left feeling that the analysis oversimplifies the processes of group dynamics and team building, and that in applying the analysis and strategies suggested my resulting awareness would leave me asking more questions that this text could answer. Of course in doing this, it would have made a great start!

Group dynamics, teamwork and leadership styles are complex interacting areas; but this book, purposely and successfully written as a quick-reader for all team members conveys the current thinking of these best-selling authors in an easily understandable and applicable form. Blanchard et al. mange to reduce the complexities to key points and make them relevant most directly, to business contexts. The conversational style of the book is written with regard to business projects and the key points and informative charts (though drawn from right to left, which seems rather odd for a mainly Western audience) convey the message well for such contexts.

The success of the book rests a good deal on its simplification of the subject matter, and omission of relevant concerns. The most notable to me was the exclusion of issues concerning influences of other 'roles' in group situations, aside from group leader. This topic was only briefly touched upon in relation to the stage of 'dissatisfaction' and the negative roles that are often developed. It would have been interesting to acknowledge the effect of various group-member roles at each of the four stages of group dynamics, and consider the position of group leader in relation to these.

Another area of further interest again reflects on the mainly Western audience. The issue of how people who have been taught to value individualism, self achievement, and personal self esteem, often to a greater extent than team-work, adapt to the values of working as a key member of a high performing team, is of much interest here. The skills and values developed in individualism are not necessarily the antithesis of those required for team building, as this text indicates; but the utilization and adaptation of such skills is certainly of relevance to building high performance teams.

In summary, this book is a great read if you need a quick overview of current thinking regarding the practicalities of teamwork and groups. If you want to understand more about such processes and practices, you'll only be starting here.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple, fun superficial read, January 26, 2004

By	Dino W Ramzi (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

Kenneth Blanchard turns his attention to small group dynamics and group performance in this, on of the stable of One Minute Manager books.

Academically, the two principal concepts that Blanchard and his co-authors use, are the stages of group development and Situational Leadership. The familiar stages of forming, storming, norming and performing are termed orientation, dissatisfaction, integration and production. Situational Leadership in this context refers to changing leadership styles according to the stage of the group, thereby filling in for process tasks that the group is unable to accomplish for itself.

Groups tend to start in a high-energy, high motivation but low skills and understanding mode of operation. In this stage, directive leadership provides the structure necessary to move forward. The second stage is one of dissatisfaction, questioning of leadership and clarification of roles. As unpleasant as this stage is, we are reminded that conflicts cannot be resolved if they are avoided. A resolving attitude on the part of the leader is exactly what is needed. As confidence and morale return to the group members, they pass hesitatingly into a third stage, termed integration. In this stage, commitment on goals, roles and tasks increases, as well as to the norms, values and processes of the group. A collaborating leadership style that allows control to be shared and facilitates the surfacing of disagreements is critical to the group's continued growth. Finally, the production stage is characterized by high levels of trust, morale, energy and empowerment. The team can pretty much function autonomously, without a leader whose primary purpose is to validate.

Blanchard's strength is his manner of presentation and clarity of relating ideas from disparate sources. The book is a quick read and yet it presents some fairly profound concepts, connecting the dots in a way that reading a collection of "Harvard Business Review" articles can never accomplish. Most of the book is a conversation between Dan Brockway, the director of training at a chemical company, and his mentor, The One Minute Manger. The coordinator of customer service programs, Maria Sanchez, disagrees with the presentation of material for The Essentials of Management course that Dan is coordinating.

Instead of helping Dan convince her that she is wrong, The One Minute Manger allows Dan to observe the functioning of four groups at different stages of development at his own company. The gradual, real-world exposition of the central issues of group dynamics leads into three-way discussions between Dan, Maria and the Manager about the practicalities, pitfalls and variations in group development. The goal is to produce what Blanchard and others have called "Highly-Effective Teams", effectively defined in the early pages.

The intent of the book is to teach and, with two educational doctorates as co-authors, the structure and style is simple to read and flows so logically that it is as easy to digest as Jello. A busy manager can read this book in a single New York commute and keep revisiting it as needed, while his teams evolve. Students can learn and integrate new concepts more fruitfully, as they learn how the pieces all fit together. Participants in teams can quickly get a sense of what they need to do to effectively contribute to the tasks at had, which inevitably include the processes that the group uses to get things done. Anyone reading this book is well advised to realize that this is a brief synopsis and oversimplification of group dynamics and leadership styles. Extended discussions of roles played by participants in dysfunctional groups and extensive elaboration of Situational leadership are found elsewhere and should be referenced when necessary. In the end, drawing on all our creativity and individual knowledge and experience is the path to generating value in a knowledge economy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful resource for team development, January 16, 2005

By	J. Jacobs - See all my reviews

This review is from: The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams (Hardcover)

I was referred to the One Minute Manager series when I asked someone I considered an excellent manager if he could recommend some management resources. The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams was my first introduction to the series.

The book is written as a conversation between the One Minute Manager (a nameless, faceless character), a curious manager named Dan, and a human resource manager named Maria who brought up the question of how to manage teams versus individuals.

The print is large and there are only a few paragraphs per page, making it quick and easy reading, especially for those who only have time to read a small segment at a time. The dialogues are occasionally dull and a bit pedantic, but the messages come through clearly. And these messages, how to diagnose the development stage a team is currently in and which management style is appropriate for each stage of development, are usual analysis tools for anyone leading a group. The messages from the book can also easily be identified and passed on to group members through a short presentation.

A worthwhile book to look at for anyone wanting to improve team motivation, productivity and functioning.