The One Minute Apology

Citation

(2004), "The One Minute Apology", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 53 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2004.07953cae.003

The One Minute Apology

The One Minute Apology

Ken Blanchard and Margret McBrideHarperCollinsISBN 0 668 16981£19.95

This book is small – it has only 100 A5 size pages – and can be read in less than two hours. It is a companion to Blanchard’s best selling The One Minute Manager.

This is another management book in the style of fiction; in this case, the narrator is a young man who works as an assistant to the president of a corporation.

The opening chapter reveals the company’s dilemma. The president is clearly failing to take responsibility for his own errors, errors that have resulted in a less than sparking company performance. To divert attention from himself, the president harangues the board for their lack of action.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the chairman of the board is affronted and informs the president that he has three days to come up with an effective way to restore the board’s confidence in him. Our hero – the narrator – turns to The One Minute Manager for help. There he discovers a simple but effective technique to deal with mistakes successfully and also learns the secrets of a meaningful apology.

This book is not a masterpiece but it is an enjoyable read and makes its clear pints (and summarises them) well. It offers sound and sensible advice that should help anyone repair a damaged relationship.