One Minute Manager

When I first met Don Shula to talk about the possibility of writing a book together, the first question I asked him was, "What are your goals for this year?" He quickly responded, "I think goal setting is overrated." The answer certainly got my attention. After all, the first secret of The One Minute Manager was one minute goal setting, and I have believed for a long time that all good performance starts with clear goals.

When I responded with some surprise, Don explained his thinking. He essentially argued that in any competitive industry, everybody basically has the same goals. In summer camp, every NFL coach stands in front of his team and, at a minimum, says: "We want to win. We want to make the playoffs." If they have halfway decent talent, they want to win the playoffs and get in the Super Bowl.

When I thought about it, I saw that Don was right. There is not that much difference in the goals that competitive companies have. Today, companies want to be customer-driven, cost-effective, fast and flexible, and continually improving. They want to be sound financially.

Don argued that the reason he's won more games than any NFL coach is not because he has better goals but because he is willing to pay the price to do what it takes day in and day out to prepare his people for goal accomplishment. When he injured his Achilles tendon last year and had to have an operation, he missed his first practice in 25 years while coaching the Dolphins.

Don has two goals when it comes to preparing people for goal accomplishment. He wants people so prepared for accomplishing their assignment that they can go on autopilot. As a result, that means they don't have to think about what it takes to do their job. It frees them up mentally to be alert to the possibility of making something big happen. If front-line employees don't even know the policies and procedures for their jobs, they can't go out of their way to create a raving-fan customer with service excellence.

Don's second preparation goal is that he wants his people so prepared that when the big play comes, they want the ball coming their way. He doesn't want a defensive halfback who's praying that the opponent throws the ball to the other side of the field. A prepared person wants the action coming his or her way. If an important customer must be served, a prepared employee wants to be the one to take on that challenge.

When Don and I were doing a seminar in Chicago with some 500 people in the audience, I asked, "How many of you have at least a two-day orientation program before any new employees can report to their job?" Only 12 people raised their hands.

That was mind-blowing to Don. He couldn't imagine rookies and free agents coming to his camp, given their locker assignments and told to find out how things were done around there from their teammates. Rookies and free agents are treated as veterans, so that Shula and his staff can orient them to their philosophy, work ethic and procedures. If you want people to be good, you need to set up the situation where they can perform well. Too many organizations are too haphazard in training their people.

When it comes to managing organizations, I think Don is right. Goal setting starts behavior, but what makes the biggest difference is what you do after the goals are set to observe, monitor and provide feedback for your people so that they can be at their very best. All good performance starts with clear goals, but what really keeps it going is what happens after the goals are set.

About the author . . .

Ken Blanchard is co-author of the best-selling One Minute Manager series of books. He has written and co-authored 11 other books. His latest book is Everyone's a Coach, co-authored with Don Shula.

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