Book Review: High Output Management

2021-06-13 1001 words 5 minutes

Contents

I finished reading Andrew Grove’s book on ``High Output Management’’ and really liked it, especially when reading the second half. It explains a few concepts, such as how a person’s needs may change and what is controlling a person’s behavior. It also contains quite a few practical advices on how to handle issues that could happen in a workplace. I highly recommend everyone to take a look at this book.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: physiological -> safety/security -> social/affiliation -> esteem/recognition -> self actualization.

When a lower need is satisfied, one higher is likely to take over.

Models of control
- Free-market forces
  - For simple situations.
  - Everyone is openly serving his own self-interest.
  - The goods/services have a very clearly defined dollar value.
  - Example: buying a tire
- Contractual obligations
  - Values are not so clearly defined (what is the contribution of a team member to the overal team/project? ).
  - governed by a set of agreed-upon rules
  - Example: stop at red signal; Employment contract
- Cultural values:
  - The environment changes more rapidly than one change rules.
  - When a set of circumstances is so ambiguous and unclear that a contract between parties that attempted to cover all possibilities would be prohibitively complicated.
  - Example: stop your car to help accident.
Money in the physiological- and security-driven modes only motivates until the need is satisfied, but money as a measure of achievement will motivate without limit.
Comparing our work to sports may also teach us how to cope with failure. One of the big impediments to a fully committed, highly motivated state of mind is preoccupation with failure. Yet we know that in any competitive sport, at least 50 percent of all matches are lost. All participants know that from the outset, and yet rarely do they give up at any stage of a contest.
The performance rating of a manager cannot be higher than the one we would accord to his organization. It is very important to assess actual performance, not appearances; real output, not good form.
By elevating someone, we are, in effect, creating role models for others in our organization.
The old saying has it that when we promote the good salesman and make him a manager, we ruin a good salesman and get a bad manager.
Performance review is about giving suggestions on improving his performance.
When giving feedbacks to your team members, the key is to recognize that everyone has only a finite capacity to deal with facts, issues, and suggestions. You may possess seven truths about his performance, but if his capacity is only four, at best you’ll waste your breath on the other three. At worst you will have left him with a case of sensory overload, and he will go away without getting anything out of the review.
Stages of problem-solving: ignore -> deny -> blame others -> assume responsibility -> find solution. The critical part is to move from the “blame others” stage to the “assume responsibility” stage.
We should spend more time trying to improve the performance of our stars. These people account for a disproportionately large share of the work in any organization. Put another way, concentrating on the starts is a high-leverage activity: if they get better, the impact on group output is very great indeed.
Best interview questions
- Describe some projects that were highly regarded by your management, especially by the levels above your immediate supervisor
- What are your weaknesses? How are you working to eliminate them?
- Convince me why my company should hire you.
- What are some of the problems you are encountering in your current position? How are you going about solving them? What could you have done to prevent them from cropping up?
- Why do you think you are ready for this new job?
- What do you consdier your most significant achievements? Why were they important to you?
- What do you consider your most significant failures? What do you learn from them?
- Why do you think an engineer should be chosen for a marketing position? (very this one according to the situation.)
- What was the most important course or project you completed in your college career? Why was it so important?
Four categories
- Technical/skills
  - describe some projects
  - what are your weaknesses
- What he did with knowledge
  - past achievments
  - past failures
- Discrepancies
  - what did you learn from failures
  - problems with current position
- Operational values
  - why are you ready for the new job
  - why should my company hire you
  - why should engineer be chosen for marketing
  - most important college course/project
When someone tells you he is quitting: drop what you are doing. sit him down and ask him why he is quitting. Let him talk–don’t argue about anything with him. Believe me, he’s rehearsed his speech countless times during more than one sleepless night. After he’s finished going through all his reasons for wanting to leave (they won’t be good ones), ask him more questions. Make him/her talk, because after the prepared points are delivered, the real issues may come out. Don’t argue, don’t lecture, and don’t panic. Remember, this is only the opening skirmish, not the war. And you cann’t win the war here–but you can lose it! You have to convey to him by what you do that he is important to you, and you have to find out what is really troubling him. DOn’t try to change his mind at this point, but buy time. After he’s said all he has to say, ask for whatever time you feel is necessary to prepare yourself for the next round. But know that you must follow through on whatever you’ve committed yourself to do.
Then your subordinate may say he’s accepted a job somewhere else and can’t back out. You have to make him/her quit again. You say he’s really made two commitments: first to a potential employer he only vaguely knows and second to you, his present employer. And commitments he has made to the people he has been working with daily are far stronger than one made to a casual new acquaintance.