“Want to know what we SUCK at? Training our Managers! Well, this week that started to change with Fireclay Tile’s first ever “Ganas to the People” where we took every team member with direct reports offsite for 2 days of training, inspiration, and connection.” And, after thanking the people who made it happen, CEO Eric Edelson offered, “If you want to know our agenda or what we shared, please send me a note, as I know these can be intimidating to think about. Hint...it definitely involved one of my new favorite books, High Output Management by Andy Grove.”
Edelson’s Linkedin post caught my attention. It called out bluntly what many of my clients struggle with: training their managers, and I was struck that a 1980s era management book written by Intel’s former CEO Andy Grove was the choice of a tile maker and retailer.
I had noticed that High Output Management, first published in 1983, was enjoying a resurgence among tech giants, and that Ben Horowitz added a forward to the 2015 release just before Grove passed away in 2016. Yet, it was Edelson’s post that made me wonder if this was just what my clients were looking for.
Back to basics with Andy
Andy Grove was an icon from the first class of entrepreneur company builders that were truly first class. They were passionate mission-driven technology innovators and even the original financial backers were more focused on getting the technology into the world than mega-returns. They were collectively obsessed with building great businesses that they believed would benefit society. Grove joined former Fairchild Semiconductor colleagues Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce to start Intel in 1968 as director of engineering, became CEO in 1987, and stepped down in 1998, a year after Time magazine named him Man of the Year. Ever the teacher and mentor, he also taught at Stanford, published a few other good books, and gave back thoughtfully and generously.
In creating High Output Management, Grove noted that there were plenty of books written for C-suite execs, and good training courses for first-line manufacturing supervisors, but a void for what he called “middle managers”: those who manage supervisors, engineers, accountants, and sales reps. So he set out to provide not another management book, but a sorely needed manager’s book.
While the norms and language of the 80s show up in High Output Management and it predates widespread use of email, Agile, or Lean methods, Grove provides the basic bones of what it means to manage well, how to do it, and why that matters in a step-by-step anyone can relate to. And, there is a tone of humility and reverence. “The ideas in this book are the result of a collective effort — my collaboration with many, many Intel managers over the years. I am grateful to all of them, because I learned everything I know about how to manage from them.”
Grove breaks down good management to its elements based on three ideas: (1) applying the principles of production processes to management, (2) work is done by teams, and (3) teams can only perform well only if “peak performance is elicited from the individuals in it.”
He uses the simple process of making breakfast and scaling it in what he calls “The Breakfast Factory” to teach production principles. He also provides the meat and potatoes of people and process management, spanning:
How to identify the highest value activities and focus on them
Meetings: the “Medium of Managerial Work” with an exclamation point on 1:1s
Decision-making
Training: “Training is the Boss’s Job”
Planning
Delegation and situational leadership (what he calls task-relevant maturity)
Managing within matrix structures
Motivation
Interviewing
Performance reviews
Promotions (and what to do if they don’t work)
Compensation
It's all there. Whether you’re a novice manager needing a solid how-to, or a seasoned veteran dedicated to being better, this book will deliver.
And a shout out to Fireclay Tile
You can find Fireclay Tile in your friends’ homes, the Salesforce Tower, hundreds of Starbucks and Sweetgreen locations, and even Grand Central Station. Fireclay also provides 1% of their Product via Pledge1% and last year donated 5,000 SF of tile to a new charter school, Detroit Prep, for all of its restrooms.
Stanford MBA Eric Edelson didn’t follow the usual path. He took a left turn away from Wall Street, dedicating himself to Fireclay, a Bay Area tile maker and seller with roots back to the 1920s. Revenue under his 11 year watch has grown from $1.5 million in 2009 to over $20 million last year, and Fireclay employs over 180 people. This may not seem noteworthy in a world where billions are thrown around without a blink of an eye, but in the human-based maker landscape of clay tile, this is truly a feat, especially given the nose-bleed costs of manufacturing in California. Even more important, Edelson has relentlessly focused on building a business for good, becoming a B Corp in 2015 (and every three years has to meet the rigorous environmental, social, and people standards for certification). Fireclay has forged deep partnerships with software platform providers Salesforce, Asana, and Zenefits, stays true to its timeless values (including Measure Twice, Cut Once), and cares for its employees (generous benefits, and in addition, 15% of the company is owned by employees) and community.
It’s hard, patient, honest work that honors the earth and artisans, and creates joyful, timeless, lasting beauty in our homes and public spaces. And, it must be in the clay somehow. I had the honor of working for Heath Ceramics a few years ago, and I am a small but enthusiastic investor in East Fork Pottery. All of these businesses take a steward’s approach to their craft, customers, products, people, communities, and the environment. And, their products combine nicely in our homes and public spaces.
I think Andy Grove would smile knowing his useful wisdom has found its way to one of these makers.