Average Rating: 
Rating: - Leadership and One Minute Manger is better
There are three simple precepts, which the One Minute Manager establishes with his employees: One Minute Goal Setting, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands. This makes the basics of the book very simple to understand. I was quite stunned to find the content extremely useful. Strangely the simplicity of the book is deceiving. This book is good for those that are looking for a quick read and who are either currently managing people or wanting to manage people. Goal setting is all about making sure employees understand perfectly what their duties are, what is expected of them and that there are no surprises. The Praisings and Reprimands are simply managers acknowledging that the employees are doing there jobs or not and how to deal with the situation and how to convey it to the employee. In my opinion the book is pretty good but I think everyone should read Leadership and the One Minute Manager rather than this book as Leadership is essential and it is what differentiates great companies from good ones. The key, like most books that are self-help, is to apply these principles each and every day. Catch yourself when you slip and find ways to incorporate them into your value system.
Rating:  - A Parable with Serious Staying Power
The One Minute Manager is a book that MUST be read by anyone on the payroll of a fortune 500 company -- especially since there are more than 7 million copies in print. But is it really worth five stars? Well, let's see...Published in 1980, the One Minute Manager is the story of a hypothetical manager and his hypothetical employees, being interviewed by a hypothetical interviewer who is out to learn how to become a better manager. Through the interviewing process, the interviewer uncovers that the One Minute Manager has developed a three legged process for managing *the behaviours* of working adults. Specifically, the three main components of the One Minute Manager process are:
1) One Minute Goal Setting
2) One Minute Praisings
3) One Minute Reprimands Throughout the book, the One Minute Manager and his employees frequently use metaphors to clarify the why's and wherefores of the One Minute Manager process and its value-add to an organization. Shockingly, most of the examples used to clarify the value of the process draw on behaviour modifcation techniques used on animals (in the book: a whale, a pigeon, and a puppy), recalcitrant children and even a terminally ill alcoholic. Not exactly the types of paragons I am trying to emulate in my professional life. The real problem with the One Minute Manager is that the authors, Blanchard and Johnson, evidently believe that a reasonable way to develop a process for managing people is to venture out to the extremes in finding test cases for how best to change behaviour. And in theory, this can work. But in the One Minute Manager the process breaks down in most real-world situations because the One Minute Manager process *requires* a binary world (i.e., black/white, off/on, correct/incorrect). Especially for the One Minute Praisings Praisings and Reprimands -- my experience in the complex world of modern business, is that there frequently does not exist one right way to do things and that good/bad, better/worse, and best/worst cases are often not uncovered or agreed upon for years (example: Time Warner & AOL merger). What is good about the book is that Blanchard and Johnson have marketed a process that neccesitates engaging both manager and employee in objective setting and driving the success of the business (very TQM/Deming of them). They also encourage folks to praise themselves -- something I have found that many do not do in the workplace. The most poignant part of the story uses the following joke very effectively (paraphrased): "If you don't blow your own horn sometimes, eventually someone will use it for a spit-toon". So given the above, why the five stars? Well, there are three reasons for this:
1) The One Minute Manager is unique in the business book genre in that it employees a parable (i.e., no new data or primary research) to put forward ideas/concepts for managing people -- somewhat strange that two *supposed* scientists would take this approach
2) I have personally been an employee of someone who, while I worked for her, became a One Minute Manager by reading the book (this manager overcame her mere average incompetence and quickly became ludicrously incompetent), so realize that in the wrong hands, this book can make the lives of employees a nightmare
3) Too many folks in business have bought the book for you not to Net/net: FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED. Read this and know what other corporate types know if you rely on your paycheck for shelter and food, and have even the slightest interest in being happy and succeeding in corporate America.
Rating: - Great book for anyone of any age group, any occupation...
Book written by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, it has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide and that just says how successful this book is. It covers the three essential elements of being a high-speed and efficient manager. I also like the "business story" format. In today's world, many new supervisors are thrust into a "baptism by fire" management environment. I found this book to be an easy to read guide that arms newcomers to management with the basic tools for building worker relationships and getting the best out of their staff. Consequently, their efforts are guided into decisions that generate increasingly positive outcomes in uncomfortable situations. Self-confidence builds and leadership and management styles improve.
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