high_output_management_notes

---
author: Trevor Lane
title: Notes on High Output Management
date: 03/05/2024
image: https://i.imgur.com/mKi4ZA5.jpg
authorImage: https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/15148900
tags: reading, notes
---

#### Thoughts:

I found this book to be full of useful information. Although many things mentioned in the book are now common-place, such as one-on-ones, I found the book to have additional insight which was new to me. The book is obviously written by someone in the physical manufacturing space, thus some principles don't directly translate to software development management. Nonetheless, the book was insightful and helpful.


#### Ch. 1  The basics of production: delivering a breakfast

- Basic requirements of production, to build and deliver products in response to the demands of the customer at a scheduled delivery time, at an acceptable quality level, and at the lowest possible price. 
- Certain steps in production cause the most impactful delays/interruptions. These are called the limiting steps. 
- All production flows have a basic characteristic: the material becomes more valuable as it moves through the process. *true for software?*
#### Ch. 2, Managing the breakfast factory

- Indicators are used to measure the operation in various ways.
- Often indicators need to be viewed together to achieve actual progress, e.g. speed and quality
- Indicators provide windows into the black box that is the operation, they act as a proxy but are not the real thing. 
- Trend indicators can be used to make predictions about the future. 
- Storing indicators allows you to scan for unhealthy departures from the norm
- In assuring quality, the key principle is to reject the defective material at its lowest value stage, i.e. as early as possible. 
- Many kinds of quality checks exist, e.g. gate-checks, variable inspections, sampling, etc. 
- Story about American Embassy in London, 98% approval yet they manually check every passport.
- Leverage is one of the more powerful ways to increase productivity

#### Ch. 3 Managerial Leverage
- A manager's output = the output of his org + the output of neighboring orgs under his influence
- While the managers own work is very important, that in itself does not create output. A coach does not score touchdowns.
- *A manager must keep many balls in the air at the same time and shift his energy and attention to activities that will most increase the output of his organization. In other words, he should move to the point where is leverage will be the greatest.*
- Reports are more a medium of of self-discipline than a way to communicate information. Writing the report is important, reading it is often not.
- An especially efficient way to get information is to visit a particular place in the company and observe what's going on there. This is often not done because of the awkwardness that managers feel about walking through an area without a specific task in mind. Intel combats this by creating a formal task which sets the stage for ad-hoc mini-transactions.
- Another major kind of managerial activity is decision making, of which information gathering is the foundation.
- Another managerial activity is nudging, it happens far more often than formal decision making.
- Managers also serve as role models. They exemplify values and behavioral norms visibly.
- Meetings are another medium .
- A manager has to choose the most effective medium for what they want to accomplish, and that is the one that gives them the greatest leverage.
- Managerial output is the multiplication of activity by leverage.
- High Leverage activities:
	- Number of affected people
	- Duration of affect on a person 
	- Impact of affect on a large group
	- Speed?
- Leverage can also be negative
- Each time a manager imparts his knowledge, skills or values to a group, his leverage is high, as the members of the group will carry on what  they lear to many others, in a positive or negative direction.
- Automating processes are high leverage
- Managerial meddling, when a supervisor takes over and  doesn't let the subordinate do their job.
- Someone with unique skills and knowledge as their output affects many other people.
- *The art of management lies in the capacity to select from the many activities of seemingly comparable significance the one, two or three that provide leverage well beyond the others and concentrate on them.*
- Delegation is another high-leverage activity, but delegation without follow through is abdication.
- Monitoring results of delegation is much like the process of assuring quality. i.e. catch errors at the earliest possible stage.
- Delegating doesn't make sense if you have to check 100% of the work all the time.
- (Managerial Output/Time) = L * (Activity Performed/Time).
- Time management is the most common approach to increasing output
- A calendar is the medium of a managers forecast
- Saying no is a prerequisite for overload
- To use a calendar as a production planning tool, you must accept responsibility for two things:
	- You should move toward the active use of your calendar, taking the initiative to fill the holes between time-critical events with non-time-critical but necessary activities.
	- You should say no at the outset to work beyond your capacity to handle
- Allow slack in the system, focus on fewer things to ensure they get done at an acceptable level of quality.
- Develop a raw material inventory, a backlog. Things you need to do but not right away. Otherwise your free time will likely be used for meddling.
- Strive towards consistency
- Strive towards regularity.
- Batch similar work.
- Create time for interuptions, hold open office hours.
- Impose a pattern.

#### Ch. 4 Meetings - The Medium of Managerial Work

- Spending more that 25% of time in meetings is a sign of a managers malorganization - P. Drucker. Grove says more that 25% of time in ad-hoc mission-oriented meetings.
- Two kinds of meetings:
	- Process-Oriented: knowledge is shared, information exchanged
	- Mission Driven: produces a decision
- Process Oriented Meetings:
	- One on Ones:
		- Should be regarded as the subordinates meeting, agenda and tone set by them.
		- Emphasis should be on indicators that signal trouble
		- Important events that have occurred since the last meeting
		- Potential problems, even if its just intuition, it triggers a look into the black box.
		- Ask one more question
		- Should use a hold file where both the supervisor and subordinate accumulate important info. 
		- Heart-to-heart discussions should be encouraged.
		- Perfect for getting at subtle and deep work-related problems affecting the subordinate.
		- Should be scheduled on a rolling basis-set up the next one as the current one ends.
	- Staff Meetings
		- Supervisor and all of his subordinates
		- Opportunity for supervisor to learn from the exchange and confrontation of that develops, hear both sides.
		- The supervisor's role is to lead, observe, expedite, question, and make decisions.
		- Supervisors effort should go into keeping discussion on track.
	- Operations Review
		- Supervisor should organize meeting, help presenters decide what issues should be brought up, house keeping. 
		- Audience should add comments and questions.
- Mission Oriented Meetings
	- Meetings to make decisions.
	- Afterwards, minutes that summarize the discussion that occurred, the decision that was made and the actions to be taken should be sent out. This should happen quickly.
	- The minutes should be as clear as possible, who is doing what, when.
	- Ad-hoc decision meetings should be avoided. 
- Decision making meetings are hard to keep on track with more than 7 attendees.
- Just as you wouldn't let someone steal the company printer, you shouldn't let someone steal time.
- The good time users among managers do not talk to their subordinates about their problems, but now how to make subordinates talk about theirs. - P. Drucker
- If you don't know what you want, you wont get it. 

#### Ch. 5 Decisions Decisions

- Idea Model of discussion:
	- Free discussion => Clear Decision => Full Support, if wrong, return to Free Discussion
- Decisions should be worked out and reached at the lowest competent level
- Peer plus one, avoid peer group syndrome, reluctance to speak freely.
- Moving on and making a decision at the right time is crucial, not too early, not too late, not too over bearing, not too wishy washy
- Decision clarity:
	- What decision needs to be made
	- When does it need to be made
	- Who will decide
	- Who will need to be consulted 
	- Who will ratify or veto
	- Who will be informed
- When making a controversial decision, give people time to process. reconvene later, solicit views. 
- Good decision making is complicated

#### Ch 6. Planning
- Steps of planning:
	- Step 1: Environmental planning
		- whats required in the environment
		- Perform difference analysis, what is needed and what are you currently doing
		- How you react to this difference is the key outcome of planning.
	- Step 2: Present Status
	- Step 3: What to do to close the gap
		- The set of actions you decide upon is your strategy
		- The supervisors tactics is the subordinates strategy
- Output of planning: what do i have to do today to solve or avoid tomorrows problem
- Plan using two windows, long term and near term. Frequently update near team, occasionally update long-term
- People who plan have to have the guts, honesty and discipline to drop projects as well as to initiate them, shake their head "no" as well as to smile "yes"
- Management by Objectives
	- Objective: Where do i want to go?
	- Key Results: How will I pace myself to see if I am getting there?
	- MBO provides focus
	- Example:
		- Columbus sailed to the new world, didn't achieve objective but did hit key results and found alternative success. 
	- MBO is mean to pace, not measure performance.
#### Ch 8 Hybrid Orgs
- Have functional and mission oriented reporting (teams: mission, guilds: function)
#### Ch. 10 Modes of Control
- Modes of control:
	- free market forces
	- contractual obligations
	- cultural values
- Based on an individual's self interest & the complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity in their environment, different modes of control are appropriate.
#### Ch. 11 The sports analogy
- How does a manager motivate his subordinates? For most of us, the word implies doing something to another person. But I don't think that can happen, because motivation has to come from within somebody. Accordingly, all a manager can do is create an environment in which motivated people can flourish.   
- Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
	- Physiological
	- Safety/Security
	- Social/Affiliation
	- Esteem/Recognition
	- Self Actualization
		- To achieve one's utter personal best in a chosen field of endeavor.
		- Once someones motivation is self actualization, their drive to perform has no limit.
	- Reward output, incentives matter
	- Turning the work place into a field can turn our subordinates into "athletes"
#### Ch 12 Task Relevant Maturity
- As someone is more mature in the relevant task, less involvement is required by the manager
#### Ch 13 Performance Appraisal
- An opportunity to formally appraise performance
- You owe it to your team to take these seriously
- Level, listen and leave yourself out of it.
- Don't feel obligated to include everything in a review, focus on a few important items.
- A review shouldn't contain surprises. If there are surprises don't shy away from them.