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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 his leverage will be the greatest.
usually the more timely the information, the more valuable
Reports are more a medium of self-discipline than a way to communicate information. Writing the report is important; reading it often is not.
the preparation of an annual plan is in itself the end,
our capital authorization process itself is important, not the a...
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To improve and maintain your capacity to get information, you have to understand the way it comes to you.
Your information sources should complement one another, and also be redundant because that gives you a way to verify what you’ve learned.
Then why are they underutilized? Because of the awkwardness that managers feel about walking through an area without a specific task in mind. At Intel we combat this problem by using programmed visits meant to accomplish formal tasks, but which also set the stage for ad hoc mini-transactions.
The third major kind of managerial activity, of course, is decision-making.
decisions can be separated into two kinds.
forward-looking
respond to a developing problem or a crisis,
It’s obvious that your decision-making depends finally on how well you comprehend the facts and issues facing your business.
In short, information-gathering is the basis of all other managerial
work, which is why I choose to spend so much of my day doing it.
“nudging” because through it you nudge an individual or a meeting in the direction you would like.
we are role models for people in our organization—
nothing leads as well as example.
Values and behavioral norms are simply not transmitted easily by talk or memo, but are conveyed very effectively by doing and doing visibly.
the single most important resource that we allocate from one day to the next is our own time.
How you handle your own time is, in my view, the single most important aspect of being a role model and leader.
Meetings provide an occasion for managerial activities.
Getting together with others is not, of course, an activity—it is a medium.
you must choose
the most effective medium for what you want to accomplish, and that is the one that gives you the greatest leverage.
Leverage is the measure of the output generated by any given managerial activity.
Managerial Output
Output of organization
L1 × A1 + L2 × A2 +…
A poor manager's activity might also be less thsn zero, such that it detract's from the output of the manager. Always strive to do good for you team.
key to high output means being sensitive to the leverage of what you do during the day.
output of a manager per unit of time worked—can be increased in three ways:
HIGH-LEVERAGE ACTIVITIES
High leverage activities are those that affect many people, teams, or industries over long periods of time and/or provide valuable imformation.
When many people are affected by one manager.
When a person’s activity or behavior over a long period of time is affected by a manager’s brief, well-focused set of words or actions.
When a large group’s work is affected by an individual supplying a unique,...
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or inform...
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By spending a certain amount of time in advance of the planning activities,
Work done in advance of the planning meeting obviously has great leverage.
Thus to maximize the leverage of his activities, a manager must keep timeliness, which is often critical, firmly in mind.
Leverage can also be negative. Some managerial activities can reduce the output of an organization.
Each time a manager imparts his knowledge, skills, or values to a group, his leverage is high, as members of the group will carry what they learn to many others.
my approach toward answering questions and my conduct in general communicate our way of doing things to these employees when they are most impressionable.
Role model leverage
A manager can also exert high leverage by engaging in an activity that takes him only a short time, but that affects another person’s performance over a long time.
A subordinate can be motivated and even redirected in his efforts, or the review can discourage and demoralize him for who knows how long.
tickler file—
The manager became depressed. Though he didn’t realize it, he almost immediately began to affect people around him and soon depression spread throughout his organization.
Another example is waffling, when a manager puts off a decision that will affect the work of other people.
the lack of a decision is the same as a negative decision;
Managerial meddling is also an example of negative leverage. This occurs when a supervisor uses his superior knowledge and experience of a subordinate’s responsibilities to assume command of a situation rather than letting the subordinate work things through himself.
