High Output Management

Great stuff with anecdotes from Intel. I learned the concept of competing metrics, and I think he's the original promoter of 1:1 meetings - though his are about the status of the work (mostly).

One of the best management books I've read. I was surprised how many concepts described nearly 40 years ago still ring so true today. There is a strong feeling of the author's authentic experience that shines throughout the book. He uses metaphors that are easy to grasp, yet describe complex nuances of the discussed problems. There are examples that seem to be real observations that led to presented insights (whereas in other book examples seem to be worked out backward to prove author's thesis). Finally, the author is very succinct - doesn't waste a single page on redundant repetitions or empty statements - and humble, not trying to self-promote or patronize.

The book presents a very "mechanical" view of the organization's design and managerial activities which can be especially appealing to more technically-minded readers. Processes, structures, and even people seem to be part of a big machine, that managers oversee and fine-tune by careful calibration of observed parameters. This might be true to some extent, especially if you want to manage for efficiency and quality. Then this book is pure gold and full of the useful and tested material as valid today as ever (e.g. MBO being "rediscovered" as OKRs and getting significant attention nowadays).

However, if you want to manage for creativity, engagement, and innovation... then you won't find much value here. If you are more into philosophy than engineering, then this book might be a harder read. The chapters about employee's motivation and psychology of work aged the most as many of the presented concepts have been developed further while others have been proved to be misguided. This made me appreciate the progress we did in this area since the book was written.

Overall, I wish I had read this book when I was a newbie manager. I would recommend it to anyone thinking about taking on a managerial role or still orienting themselves in the manager's responsibilities and purpose.

I found this book helpful in giving language to management strategies and structuring many of my thoughts on management. I think it is good in general, but would recommend Multipliers or The One Thing over this.

This is one of the best management books I've found. Grove covers the fundamental underlying issues that make it difficult to coordinate a group of folks to actually do something effectively, while also constantly adapting to change.

He covers stuff like the tension between mission and function, what it really takes to have a good working and training relationship with your direct reports, and the reasons for dual reporting/matrix management.

While the book is fairly readable, my main gripe would be that the presentation seems a bit too compact (you'll probably need to read it more than once to really absorb a lot of the info). For this reason, it would be nice to see an expanded and somewhat better organized edition.

Besides, High Output Management deserves more prominence than it's received to date, and since Andy Grove is much better known today than he was in 1983, I suspect a new edition might do well.