Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management

by Peter Drucker

Amazon link: Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management

No one has influenced the practice and study of management more than Peter Drucker.

Ever since the publication of his first management book in 1946, Concept of the Corporation, which was based on his study of General Motors, Drucker has devoted his career to shaping and developing the art of professional management.

In fact, Concept of the Corporation is considered to be the first book on management, period.

On the Profession of Management is a compilation of Drucker’s work that has appeared in the “Harvard Business Review” over the last 30 years.

Review editor Nan Stone has organized 13 articles into two sections.

The first, “The Manager’s Responsibilities,” focuses on the work of management, making decisions, and practicing innovation.

The second section, “The Executive’s World,” looks at how managers should manage in a knowledge-based economy—indeed Drucker was one of the first to consider the implications of knowledge economies.

If you think Drucker has lost anything over the years, the book’s insightful and provocative preface, “The Future That Has Already Happened,” will surely change your mind.

“On the Profession of Management” is an insightful and informative read, a tribute to one of the finest minds of the 20th century.

• Preface The Future That Has Already Happened
• Introduction Written by Nan Stone
• Part I The Manager’s Responsibilities
  • The Theory of the Business
  • The Effective Decision
  • How to Make People Decisions
  • The Big Power of Little Ideas
  • The Discipline of Innovation
  • Managing for Business Effectiveness
• Part II The Executive’s World
  • The Information Executives Truly Need
  • The Coming of the New Organization
  • The New Society of Organizations
  • What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits
  • The New Productivity Challenge
  • Management and the World’s Work
  • The Post-Capitalist Executive: An Interview with Peter F. Drucker by T. George Harris
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author

#tgd

“The greatest danger

in times of turbulence

is not turbulence;

it is to act

with yesterday’s logic”.

— Peter Drucker

The shift from manual workers
who do as they are being told —
either by the task or by the boss —

TO knowledge workers

who have to

manage themselves ↓

profoundly challenges social structure …

“Managing Oneself (PDF) is a REVOLUTION in human affairs.” …



“It also requires an almost 180-degree change in the knowledge workers’ thoughts and actions from what most of us—even of the younger generation—still take for granted as the way to think and the way to act.” …



… “Managing Oneself is based on the very opposite realities:


Workers are likely to outlive organizations
(and therefore, employers can’t be depended on for designing your life),

and the knowledge worker has mobility.” ← in a context

“More than anything else,

the individual
has to take more responsibility
for himself or herself,
rather than depend on the company.”
continue ↓

“Making a living is no longer enough
‘Work’ has to make a life .” continue

… finding and selecting the pieces of the puzzle

The Second Curve

These pages are attention directing tools

for navigating changing worldS — worldS relentlessly

moving toward unimagined futures.

What’s the next effective action on the road ahead

It’s up to you to figure out what to harvest and calendarize
— working something out in time (1915, 1940, 1970 … 2040 … the outer limit of your concern) — nobody is going to do it for you.

It may be a step forward to actively reject something (rather than just passively ignoring) and then working out a plan for coping with what you’ve rejected.

Your future is between your ears and our future is between our collective ears — it can’t be otherwise.

A site exploration: The memo THEY don't want you to see

What needs doing?

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exploration leads to explored

Examples ↑ can be found through web searches, Wikipedia,
Pinterest and the daily news

Knowledge Worker tools on Pinterest

Some ecological and time awareness ↓ → Ken Burns films

Larger view thinking canvas

The Über Mentor

The Drucker Lectures:
Essential Lessons on
Management, Society, and Economy

A Year with Peter Drucker:
52 Weeks of Coaching
for Leadership Effectiveness

Larger view thinking canvas

#mlp ↓ #z99

My launching pad

(fully responsible officer,
knowledge-worker, professional contributor
and executive)

Discontinued Operations

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