5 Minute Book Review: High Output Management

I’ve wanted to read Andy Grove’s High Output Management for a few years after it was endorsed by Ben Horowitz in his blogs and book. I finally got around to it last month. 

High Output Management was written in the mid 80s, and shows its age. It reads like an engineer’s approach to management 101, which came across a technical and emotionless at times, but its a good counterbalance to the softer management books I’ve become accustomed to - Setting the Table, Peak, Pour Your Heart Into It. At the same time, a results-driven, output based approach to management cuts through the noise- I found it to be refreshing. And there are some great rules of thumb that can be applied to daily management practice. 

It starts with a basic realization - management is not about the manager, at all. Its solely about serving the organization beneath and adjacent to you for the best outcomes. 

Here were my favorite few tidbits: 

A manager’s output = the output of his organization + the output of neighboring organizations under his influence - its a simple equation, but I found the addition of the second part to be profound. All too often its easy to confuse ‘management’ with ‘resources under me in an organization’, and as such undervalue the role of specialist & individual contributors without large functions. Yet often these contributors are the glue that holds an organization together and essential to successful outcomes. 

On one-on-ones  - the frequency of communication with subordinates depends on how well suited they are to the job they’re being asked to do - their ‘task level maturity’. I don’t personally subscribe to this - I catch up with all of my direct reports every week. However recognizing that different levels of experience may require a different communication frequency is valuable. 

Separately, one-on-ones are about making the direct report most effective, not for the manager to discuss all of his problems. 

On time management - the main scarcity any manager has is time. This means managers should focus solely on high leverage activities - activities that efficiently cascade through the organization. I would add that managers should focus activities that only they specifically are able to do - and delegate everything else. And treat time as a sacred commodity - as Andy says, 

Just as you would not permit a fellow employee to steal a piece of office equipment worth $ 2,000, you shouldn’t let anyone walk away with the time of his fellow managers.

How many direct reports? - optimal number is 6-8

How big can decision-making meetings get? No more than 8 people, ideally 6 or 7. 

Take meeting minutes - its a small incremental investment in what has been a very large investment - gathering a group of people for an hour or so to discuss the business. 

On the purpose of performance reviews - its not so the manager can get all of the feedback over the year off of his chest and feel better. It is solely to improve the performance of the person. Focus on a few key themes with a few associated actions.