Classic Drucker Book Report
I had the pleasure of reading “Classic Drucker”. The book contains 15 articles from Peter Drucker that were printed in the “Harvard Business Review”. I chose a few takeaways with an explanation on why I chose them and how they can apply to your career. “Whenever you make a key decision, write it down. ” Next to it, write down what you expect the end result will be. ” As you compile these decisions, review each on after an extended period of time.
You will be surprised of your results and over time you may get increasingly accurate on your expected results. “Mathematicians are born, but everyone can learn trigonometry. ” Some people are just naturally more intelligent than others but at the same time, we can learn some of the components of what they know, and know those components just as much as they can. “Manners enable two people to work together whether they like each other or not. ” The words “please” and “thanks” go a long way in the business world. I even go as far as saying thanks when someone gives me a new assignment.
At times they seem surprised but to be genuinely appreciative will show commitment to the team. “Too many people work in ways that are not their ways, and that almost guarantees nonperformance”. Your peers may have work habits that are not the same as yours but that doesn’t make them non productive. Productivity revolves around results, not one’s arrival time, or the fact that a person prefers to wear headphones while they work. “To be effective in an organization, a person’s values must be compatible with the organization’s values”.
I interpreted this to mean, I am going to be much more successful if my values are aligned with my companies. Doing so will ensure that I am committed and passionate about my work, which has a better chance of leading to success. I wouldn’t feel comfortable working for a company that practiced in lying and cheating to achieve its objectives. “It is incumbent on the people who work with them (bosses) to observer them, to find out how they work, and to adapt themselves to what makes their bosses more effective”.
It has always been a goal of mine to keep all of my work off my boss’s plate, and to take responsibility for everything involving the products that I work on. The entire product might not be my responsibility but the more I can take on, the more my boss can be strategic. “The theory of business becomes “culture. ” But culture is no substitute for discipline, and the theory of the business is a discipline”. A company with a good culture that you are comfortable with might not necessarily relate to results.
Culture doesn’t necessarily meet deadlines. Tasks and rules seem to have a better chance of meeting guidelines than “family business”. “All events but the truly unique require a generic solution”. I think of how the Product Development Process that has recently been applied to all of the products where I work and how every single one fits in at some phase of that process. The products had a problem being completed. Now we see the end with the implementation of a generic process. Temps are a good way to avoid rules and regulations for employers.
A highly trained temp can do the job without the corporate commitment and the need to adhere to hiring/firing HR standards that apply to every day employees. The employees are also easily manageable since many of them are already managed by their agencies. “Leadership knows something someone else doesn’t”. This is the most important takeaway for me. Some people think leadership means type-a personality or being stern, but knowledge truly is power. Knowing something someone else doesn’t puts you in the front, with an opportunity to teach and display, some functions of what many people consider leaders.
