One Minute Manager

by Ken Blanchard


One problem is the assumption that empowered people can do anything they want.


Create Autonomy Through Boundaries

In our book, Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, John Carlos, Alan Randolph and I contend that the first step in empowering people is to share information with everyone.

Once you have begun to make your people your business partners by sharing information with them, the second step in empowering people is creating autonomy by setting boundaries. In the past, one problem with empowerment was the assumption that empowered people could do anything they wanted; they were in charge. That assumption just doesn't make sense. A river without banks is just a large puddle. What permits a river to flow is its banks. In empowering people, the banks are boundary areas or guidelines within which people can operate. Top management takes a lead in providing these boundaries. They include the following:
Purpose-Everyone needs to know what business you're in.
Values-What beliefs motivate you?
Goals-What are the big-picture, bottom-line goals that should affect people's behavior?
Roles-What are people being asked to do and contribute?
Incentives-What's in it for people if they perform well?
Measures-How will people know what good behavior looks like?


Boundaries can also include policies and procedures. As I learned from coaching great Don Shula, when we wrote Everyone's a Coach, you need to have a plan, expect the unexpected and be ready to change that plan if necessary. In football, audibles are used by the quarterback or defensive captain to change a given play when they realize it won't work. Shula emphasized that effective audible calling begins with a plan.

This concept was verified by two of our top consultants when they observed the training of Seeing Eye dogs. They found that two types of dogs were thrown out of the program. The first type was obvious-those that were completely disobedient. They wouldn't do anything their master asked. The other dogs that were dismissed were completely obedient. These were dogs that would do whatever their master ordered. The dogs that worked best were the ones that would do whatever their master wanted as long as it made sense.

For example, standing at a corner, a dog's master says, "Forward." The dog looks and sees a car coming at 65 miles an hour. It thinks, "This is a real bummer" as it leads its master out into the middle of the road. But this scenario can be avoided if a dog that is allowed to think can make a choice that best fits a given circumstance. Can you imagine letting dogs think?
We know that many organizations don't let their people think. How many times have you been in a situation where a front-line employee says, "I'm sorry. It's our policy" when the policy makes no sense. For example, once when I was checking into a top hotel, I was put on the special executive level. When I went to check in, the hotel clerk told me they had no rooms available until after 2 p.m. I said, "That's OK with me. Would you store my bags?"

She said, "Fine" and asked what else she could do for me.

I said, "I need to cash a traveler's check."

"I can't do that," she said. "I don't know what your room number is yet."

"Why do you need my room number?" I asked.

She exclaimed, "I have to put it on the back of every traveler's check."

"That's a good policy," I said, "but you have my bags. It doesn't make sense in this case."

Her responses included, "It's our policy, I just work here, I don't make the rules," etc. Can you imagine a Seeing Eye dog under such restrictions? They would be dead at the first busy street.

Empowerment begins with boundaries. There is nothing wrong with policies or procedures. Empowered employees welcome them but recognize they can use their brains and call audibles when procedures and policies don't make sense. Empowering people without giving them boundaries will lead to disaster and failure.

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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