Read this book: "High Output Management"
Sam Parlett2 min read
There are relatively few books which I have found valuable enough to re-read, and “High Output Management”, by Andy Grove, the ex-president of Intel, is one of them. It is my objective in this article to get one Theodoer to read this book. So if you do, please let me know!
In order to encourage you to read the book, here I outline 3 points from it that you may find interesting:
Choose the right type of indicator! Grove talks about the importance of choosing the right indicators, two types of which, I outline below:
- Gated indicators, where a process is not continued until quality standards are met. You absolutely do not continue until a problem is resolved, compared to a process indicator, where you measure that something is wrong, but you continue going as you were, with some minor changes.
- Paired indicators, where there is both a maximum and a minimum indicator to keep stock at an optimum. This a very lean mentality, do not always presume more is better: do what needs to be done and no more.
Motivate before training!
Grove notes that training is only effective to the degree that people are motivated, so motivate first and provide training second. He points out that self-actualisation, or “what I can be, I must be”, is the highest form of motivation, and he believes this to be underpinned by either being competence (process) or achievement (outcome) driven.
Coach people as individuals!
Grove argues strongly for regular scheduled one to ones between coach and coachee. He argues that they produce a totally different type of interaction that a casual phone call and are important to address big issues and to improve the output of the coachee. He also points out that coaching should be different depending on the task-relevant maturity of the coachee:
- low maturity, requires that the coach dictates tasks, explaining what, when, and how
- medium maturity, requires two way support and guidance
- high maturity, requires establishment of objectives and monitoring
Would I recommend this book? Yes, absolutely.
