Monkey Management

The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey

I recall reading this book early in my corporate career – and a recent comment brought it to mind, so I had to check it out of the library and review it;-)

What do you get when you take one writer whose philosophy is managing people well – in one minute increments, and team him up with another who compares life’s problems and issues with monkeys?

Ken Blanchard, William Oncken, Jr. and Hal Burrows team up to offer an insightful strategy for keeping everyone’s monkeys on their own shoulders.

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Other people’s problems

We all have enough going on in our lives without taking responsibility for other people’s problems – so don’t;-)

Think of other people’s problems as a monkey on their back. Now, the trick is not to let that monkey jump to yours! You’re probably not in the best position to care for it, and you already have your own monkeys to look out for.

How it happens

So just how did you get all those monkeys anyway?

The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey will take you through the first person accounting of our intrepid hero who learns first of all how he came to be burdened with so many monkeys.

As you read you’ll be thinking – yup – I’ve got them too.

[Ok, you don’t need to get the book right now, but you’ll still find it an easy read and full of advice and rules about managing monkeys – er – issues…]

Rules for Monkey management

And once our hero becomes aware of the problem, you’ll see him hero work with rules – to make sure that the monkeys get the proper care and attention they deserve – from their proper owners;-)

Using your new-found time

With the monkeys under control, you’ll be able to consider all of the uses of your time … time that you no longer have to spend caring for other people’s monkeys.

Prioritizing between Boss-Imposed, System-Imposed, Self-Imposed, and Discretionary activities will let you perform more and better things.

Easy to read

As a whole, the book is enjoyable and easy to read – there’s no mumbo-jumbo speak – we’re talking about monkeys…

And while it’s presented in the first person, it seems clear to me that the authors have intended that the reader put themselves in that first person and see the advice as directed to them – to help the reader with this sort of issue.

Not just for managers

If you are a manager, this is clearly helpful.

If you’d like to be a manager, this is also clearly helpful.

If you’d like to work with your manager in a better way – this will give you terrific insights;-)

steve