Discretionary Time - The Art of Delegating

Delegate More! Getting rid of monkeys

A Casualty Insurance Policy on Every Monkey

He comes back and sticks his head around the door. I say, "George, promise me that if you should arrive at your decision before we meet next time, promise me you'll take no action on it until after we've discussed it three weeks from now!" He says, "Scouts' honour!" As he turns around to walk down the hallway, I slump in my chair, relieved and relaxed, fanning my face which is now drenched in perspiration. He cannot hurt me now. He can decide on anything he wants, but he cannot act on that decision until after we have discussed it!

Let us now take a look at our Freedom Scale again, but this time as a series of deductibles on casualty insurance policies on monkeys. Which one of those five deductibles did I pick when I said to George, "In the event that you should arrive at your decision before we discuss it next time, take no action on it until we have discussed it?" Which one? Number Three! It follows, therefore, that for every monkey that leaves your presence on a subordinate's back, it shall have a casualty insurance policy with an authorized degree of freedom appropriate to your anxiety index. Now while the "anxiety index" is a highly emotional thing, I am here to remind you that you can with precision, using the "gut feel" of your anxiety, pick the proper degree of freedom. It is not slide-rule precision, but still it is pretty precise.

Freedom and Protection

If, therefore, you make it a habit never to let a monkey leave your presence (either face-to-face or on the phone) unless it has one of those degrees of freedom assigned to it, it tells your subordinate what freedom he will enjoy on that "next move," and it tells you what protection you will enjoy. And the one word that was used twice in that last sentence was the word "enjoy." If you have to manage anyway, you might as well enjoy it!


What Precisely Is a Monkey? Procrastination vs. Insubordination George, the Trouble Shooter Procrastination Again Planning the Solution Honest Day's Work for a Fair Day's Pay Seeing It Like It Really Is Whole New Ballgame The Open Door Giving Monkeys Back The Key to Managerial Competitiveness Ground Rules for Handling Monkeys Replacement Planning A Career Risk of a Lifetime Freedom and Protection Joining Hands in Partnership Running Out of Wrong Decisions The Other Subordinates How's it Coming? The Professional Manager Returning Monkeys to Their Owner Discretionary Time Development of proposals for specific courses of action 'Proposal for Action' The Third Week Mutual Benefits The Professional Manager Using the Job Description Setting a Standard of Performance The Next Step Corporate Management Improvement Program A Management philosopher The Professional Subordinate "Boss, what do I do now?" Batting the Monkeys Back A collection of unrelated activities The Irreplaceable Employee Job Analysis Major Reorganisation Management by Results The Boss's Job Using his self- imposed time to get control of his boss-imposed time Getting the Boss's Ideas Delivering the Boss's Ideas Discretionary Time When "pro" works for "amateur" Monkey Feeding Rules Rules 1 and 2 Rule 3 Instead, as a pro, what did I do? Rule 4 Rule 5 Rule 6		Delegate More! Getting rid of monkeys A Casualty Insurance Policy on Every Monkey He comes back and sticks his head around the door. I say, "George, promise me that if you should arrive at your decision before we meet next time, promise me you'll take no action on it until after we've discussed it three weeks from now!" He says, "Scouts' honour!" As he turns around to walk down the hallway, I slump in my chair, relieved and relaxed, fanning my face which is now drenched in perspiration. He cannot hurt me now. He can decide on anything he wants, but he cannot act on that decision until after we have discussed it! Let us now take a look at our Freedom Scale again, but this time as a series of deductibles on casualty insurance policies on monkeys. Which one of those five deductibles did I pick when I said to George, "In the event that you should arrive at your decision before we discuss it next time, take no action on it until we have discussed it?" Which one? Number Three! It follows, therefore, that for every monkey that leaves your presence on a subordinate's back, it shall have a casualty insurance policy with an authorized degree of freedom appropriate to your anxiety index. Now while the "anxiety index" is a highly emotional thing, I am here to remind you that you can with precision, using the "gut feel" of your anxiety, pick the proper degree of freedom. It is not slide-rule precision, but still it is pretty precise. Freedom and Protection If, therefore, you make it a habit never to let a monkey leave your presence (either face-to-face or on the phone) unless it has one of those degrees of freedom assigned to it, it tells your subordinate what freedom he will enjoy on that "next move," and it tells you what protection you will enjoy. And the one word that was used twice in that last sentence was the word "enjoy." If you have to manage anyway, you might as well enjoy it!
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