Quote
“Delegation without follow-through is abdication.”
— Andrew S. Grove, in High Output Management (1983) · High Output Management →
Why it was said
Andy Grove, who ran Intel, makes this point in High Output Management while discussing delegation as one of a manager's main sources of leverage. He argues that handing a task to someone does not end the manager's responsibility for the outcome; it turns the job into monitoring.
What it actually means
Delegating well multiplies a manager's output; delegating and walking away hands the outcome to luck. Grove's word is pointed: to abdicate is to give up a responsibility you still hold. His remedy is monitoring matched to what he calls task-relevant maturity: close at first for someone new to the work, lighter as they show they can handle it. Monitoring is not micromanaging; it means checking at the points where problems are cheapest to catch.
How to use it
- 1For each task you delegate this week, agree on one or two checkpoints and put them in the calendar.
- 2Adjust the checks to experience: more frequent for someone new to the task, fewer for someone who has done it well before.
- 3At each checkpoint, look at a sample of the work itself, not just the status report.