Ken Blanchard &
Spencer Johnson
Published 1982
Domain Strength
Virtues It Develops
- Best for
- New supervisors, team leads, ministry & volunteer leaders
- Read time
- One sitting (~112 pages)
- Edition
- 1982 original
Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson don’t hand you a theory; they hand you three skills you can begin developing this week.
- One Minute Goals. Agree on a few clear goals, write each on a single page, and revisit them often.
- One Minute Praisings. Catch people doing something right, and tell them specifically, right away.
- One Minute Reprimands. Correct the behavior quickly, then affirm the person.
Developing Virtues with the Skill
Practiced well, these habits will shape the virtue of justice by giving people what they are due, including clear and timely feedback. Every praising and reprimand calls for truthfulness, naming what actually happened without spin or flattery. The reprimand’s second half is mercy in practice: moving toward someone who fell short and restoring them with dignity.
Try This Week
Leadership is shaped in minutes, not just milestones. This week, choose one person on your team. When you see them do something well, tell them that same day, specifically. Then watch what one honest minute can do.
Ken Blanchard & Spencer Johnson · Management · 1982
The One Minute Manager
A short business parable built on three brief, repeatable conversations. Its core insight: clear goals plus prompt, specific feedback do more for people than long, infrequent performance reviews.
Secret 1
One Minute Goals
“Do we both know what good looks like?”
Purpose
- Shared, specific picture of success
- No surprises at review time
When
- Start of any new task or role
- Whenever performance drifts off course
How
- Agree together on a few key goals
- One page per goal, ≤250 words
- Reread often; compare behavior to goal
Why It Works
- Few goals drive most results (80/20)
- People can check their own progress
Watch Out
- Goals set once, then filed away
- Manager writes goals alone
Secret 2
One Minute Praisings
“What did you just do right?”
Purpose
- Reinforce behavior moving toward goals
- Build confidence and capability
When
- Immediately after good work
- Often while someone is still learning
How
- Name specifically what went well
- Say how you feel about it; pause
- Encourage more of the same
Why It Works
- “Catch people doing something right”
- Praise approximately right, early on
Watch Out
- Vague or flattering praise
- Saving praise for annual reviews
Secret 3
One Minute Reprimandsrenamed “Re-Directs” in the 2015 edition
“How do I correct this and keep the person whole?”
Purpose
- Stop off-goal behavior quickly
- Separate the behavior from the person
When
- Right after the mistake
- Only when they already know how
How
- First half: name error, share feeling
- Second half: affirm their worth
- Then it’s over: no grudges
Why It Works
- Quick feedback links action and result
- Reaffirming protects trust
Watch Out
- Skipping the reaffirming second half
- Reprimanding beginners: reset the goal
How it fits together
Goals come first
Praisings and reprimands are both feedback measured against an agreed goal. Without a clear goal, neither one has anything to point to.
Common misreading
“One minute” means brief and timely, not a stopwatch. And a reprimand without its second half (reaffirming the person) is just criticism.
Try this week
1 · Goals
In your next one-on-one, co-write one goal on a single card. You each keep a copy.
2 · Praisings
Notice one specific win per team member and name it the same day.
3 · Reprimands
Before correcting, ask: do they know how? If not, go back to goal-setting.