November 15, 2005

Bob Nelson on Peter Drucker

Dr. Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)
The Father of Modern Management

Much can be said about the visionary, Peter Drucker, and his uncanny ability to cut to the core of things and make simple, provocative and well-supported insights that would systematically reshape the nature of business time and time again. Stating what was obvious before anyone else could see it was one of his trademarks that earned his much deserved reputation as a consultant's consultant and advisor to corporate CEOs.

Much less has been said of his equally effective teaching style. Dr. Drucker was from the classical style of teaching: He'd make a point then launch into a lengthy discourse for twenty or more minutes drawing from musical theory, the Spanish-American War, surgical procedures and various other seemingly unrelated fields, until he had woven a tapestry of evidence and come full-circle to his original observation, convincing you along the way that his conclusion was, in fact, the truth.

I used to drive him home after class where he lived in a modest house, like any other in the neighborhood. He advised me to learn the insights of my topic of interest through fieldwork prior to trying to prove those insights through research -- practical advice which I've strived to follow ever since.

Written By:
Bob Nelson, Ph.D.
Author, 1001 Ways to Reward Employees and a
graduate of The Peter F. Drucker Graduate School
of Management at Claremont Graduate University,
Pomona, California

Posted by Kate at November 15, 2005 9:43 AM
Comments

What a nice post, Bob, thanks so much for sharing this. I would love to know how Drucker's writings on knowledge workers and productivity and the need to manage people effectively informed your work. Which of his books would you recommend, and how did his writing affect your decision to write about rewards and recognitions?

Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld at November 15, 2005 12:31 PM

Tom:

Long time since we connected! I've read many of Dr. Drucker's books (and listened to most of them on audio) and would have to say Managing For Results is my favorite. He helped me realize that simple insights can be very useful to others and to not shy away from those I had about managing people and organizations.

It was Dr. Drucker's tome, Management: Tasks, Resposibilities, Practices that had one of his insights about rewards that grabbed me and helped me realize that managers needed to have new and many ways to reward and motivate their staff:

"Economic incentives are becoming rights rather than rewards. Merit raises are always introduced as rewards for exceptional performance. In no time at all they become a right..." (p 239)

Some of my other favorite Drucker insights include:

"What is our business?
Who is our customer?
What does the customer consider value?"

"You can't manage what you can't measure."

"Managing is getting work done through others."

"Ask people what two things they can improve."

"Today, knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement."

"The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker, but of the manager."

"Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."

"Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said."

"The best way to predict the future is to create it. What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that's another matter. Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes, but no plans."

The list could go on and on...

Bob Nelson, Ph.D. & author
1001 Ways to Reward Employees
The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook

Posted by: Bob Nelson at November 16, 2005 1:34 PM
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