---
title: Five Sacred Duties of a Manager
synced_from_vault: true
vault_source: 03-living-docs/patterns/Five-Sacred-Duties.md
public: true
type: pattern
category: management-fundamentals
tags:
  - pattern
  - management
  - fundamentals
  - andy-grove
created: 2026-02-21T00:00:00.000Z
origin: >-
  Andy Grove, High Output Management; Harrison Metal MGMT 01 (via Michael
  Dearing)
---

| | |
|-|-|
| **Category** | Management Fundamentals |
| **Origin** | Andy Grove; taught by Michael Dearing in MGMT 01 |
| **Surfaced in OS** | Feb 21, 2026 |

---

## Core Concept

Five non-negotiable obligations of a manager. If you aren't doing all five, you aren't managing.

1. **Communicate priorities and common goals** — the team needs to know WHERE you're going
2. **Divide work and authority** — the team needs to know WHO does what
3. **Deliver results** — the team needs to SHIP
4. **Evaluate performance** — the team needs FEEDBACK on how they're doing
5. **Repeat and improve** — the cycle never stops

---

## Why It Matters

This is the simplest possible description of the management job. When you feel overwhelmed or lost, come back to these five. If you're doing all five, you're managing. If one is weak, that's your OKR for the month (see Monthly Management Exercise).

The Tricky Situation Adventure Cards use these as "McCallum's Five Duties" — a card you can play to ground any management situation.

---

## Where I've Seen It

- **OrangeQC** — duty #4 (evaluate performance) was weakest when I arrived. No clear feedback loops, no performance reviews with substance.
- **Bloc** — duty #2 (divide work and authority) was the growth pain — scaling from 10 to 110 meant constantly re-dividing.

---

## Related Patterns

- Leadership as Performance — fulfilling the duties IS the performance
- [Busy vs Productive](/patterns/busy-vs-productive) — if your calendar is full but you're not hitting all five duties, you're busy not productive

---

## Cross-References