High Output Management

If the people who interrupt you knew how much they were disturbing you, they would probably police themselves more closely and cut down on the number of times they felt they had to talk to you right away. In any case, a manager should try to force his frequent interrupters to make an active decision about whether an issue can wait. So, instead of g

But unless you are prepared to act on what your leading indicators are telling you, all you will get from monitoring them is anxiety.

The supervisor’s effort at a staff meeting should go into keeping the discussion on track, with the subordinates bearing the brunt of working the issues.

What decision needs to be made? • When does it have to be made? • Who will decide?

As a general rule, you have to accept that no matter where you work, you are not an employee—you are in a business with one employee: yourself. You are in competition with millions of similar businesses.

“In order to build anything great, you have to be an optimist, because by definition you are trying to do something that most people would consider impossible. Optimists most certainly do not listen to leading indicators of bad news.”

but they know how to make the subordinates talk about theirs.”

Reports are more a medium of self-discipline than a way to communicate information. Writing the report is important; reading it often is not.

Who will need to be consulted prior to making the decision? • Who will ratify or veto the decision? • Who will need to be informed of the decision?