If
you have not read him before, let us talk some Peter Drucker. Peter
was so eloquence in his writing. One thing he would talk about is the
importance of perception. He would say one of the most important
areas of education is the development of the ability to perceive.
So
many people are good at analysis, at breaking things apart. It is what we are taught in school. What is
needed is to add the ability to perceive that which is around us. Perception
is about looking out the window and observing what is really there (Something I wrote about is the post about here) It is a lot harder
than it sounds.
If
you have ever studied calculus, you know the two main functions are
differentiation and integration. Analysis is like differentiation and
perception is the integration. So, let us do a little integrating. In
this post I will continue to integrate the teachings of Drucker into this blog.
The
first Drucker book, that everybody should read, is The Effective
Executive. Though The
Effective Executive was released in 1967, do not let its age detract you. The book truly is a
golden oldie.
Here
are a few quotes from the beginning of the book:
An
effective executive is not “talent,” let along “genius.” The
effective executive follows practices
that can be learned and must be learned.
The
Effective Executive is both a concise
blueprint for effectiveness as an executive within an organization
and a practical guide to managing oneself
for performance and achievement, whether within an organization or on
one's own.
This
is a program first developed for the senior executives of the
Eisenhower administration.
Every
developed society has become a society of
organizations. And every organization,
whatever its specific function, depends for its performance (and
indeed its survival) on the effectiveness of
its executives.
Here
is a verbatim transcription of the book's Preface:
Management
books usually deal with managing other people. The subject of this
book is managing oneself for effectiveness. That one can truly manage
other people is by no means adequately proven. But one can always
manage oneself. Indeed, executives who do not manage themselves for
effectiveness cannot possibly expect to manage their associates and
subordinates. Management is largely by example. Executives who do not
know how to make themselves effective in their own job and work set
the wrong example.
To
be reasonably effective it is not enough for the individual to be
intelligent, to work hard or to be knowledgeable. Effectiveness is
something separate, something different. But to be effective also
does not require special gifts, special aptitude, or special
training. Effectiveness as an executive demands doing
certain – and fairly simple – things. It consists of a small
number of practices, the practices that are presented and discussed
in this book. But these practices are not “inborn.” In forty-five
years of work as a consultant with a large number of executives in a
wide variety of organizations – large and small; businesses,
government agencies, labor unions, hospitals, universities, community
services,; American, European, Latin American and Japanese – I have
not come across a single “natural”: an executive who was born
effective. All the effective ones have learned to be effective. And
all of them then had to practice effectiveness until it became a
habit. But all the ones who worked on making themselves effective
executives succeeded in doing so. Effectiveness can be learned –
and it also has
to be learned.
Society
has become a society of organizations in all developed countries. Now
the effectiveness of the individual depends increasingly on his or
her ability to be effective in an organization, to be effective as an
executive. And the effectiveness of a modern society and its ability
to perform – perhaps even its ability to survive – depend
increasingly of the effectiveness of the people who work as
executives in the organization. The effective executive is fast
becoming a key resource for society, and effectiveness as an
executive a prime requirement for individual accomplishment and
achievement – for young people at the beginning of their working
lives fully as much as for people in mid-career.
I did not link to the book because next week I am going to give you an overview.
Stay tuned.
Stay tuned.
