The New One Minute Manager

Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
5 May 2015
Paperback, 112 pages
ISBN: 9780062367549

This updated favorite of thoughtful managers presents three easy-to-use ways to motivate people, keep them independent, and make best use of everyone’s time.  First published more than 20 years ago, the book has been made more relevant to today’s workplace.  Yet the principles have remained the same, providing an updated way to direct people to think for themselves.

The three key elements are discovered in the form of a narrative from a young manager seeking to find the elements of success for an experienced manager.  They are setting one-minute goals, providing one-minute praisings, and setting one-minute redirects (previously called one-minute reprimands).  Goals can and should be clear and concise; if they can’t fit on a page, they are not going to be read or followed.  Feedback on what people are doing right in a timely and supportive way will encourage good behavior and motivate people to do more and better.  Waiting for direction until it’s too late demotivates and contributes to lost productivity, as well as low morale; redirecting the path of an employee in a timely way will produce positive results.

The book is short but, like its precepts, is very much to the point.  There is no need to belabor the three elements of success but they are presented in a narrative fashion that sticks with the reader.  This book, like its predecessor, is highly recommended for managers, even if you’ve been one for years.  It is also recommended for employees who will be self-motivated by following the principles of the successful manager in the story.  This may be fiction but the principles are very much from the real world – and the real world of managing people will benefit from following these.