Quote
“A manager's output = the output of his organization + the output of the neighboring organizations under his influence.”— Andrew S. Grove, in High Output Management (1983) · High Output Management →
Why it was said
Andy Grove, who ran Intel, states this equation early in High Output Management and spends the rest of the book applying it to meetings, one-on-ones, decisions and reviews.
What it actually means
A manager who measures their day by what they personally did has the wrong unit. Grove's equation says the output is what the team produced, plus what the manager's influence added to teams they do not run, and nothing else counts. It changes what a good day is: an hour that lifts ten people's output beats a day of the manager's own work, and a task the manager did alone is, by this measure, nearly zero.
How to use it
- 1At the end of the week, write what your team produced and what your influence added elsewhere; that is your output.
- 2Choose activities by leverage: how many people's output does this hour change?