COTC and Drucker
Kinda late, but still fresh: The latest Carnival of the Capitalists is up over at The Entrepreneurial Mind. It’s a great edition on two counts: it’s the first of three COTC editions that will contain memorials to Peter Drucker and it’s structured like a university catalog–very cool.
You’ll recall that Drucker died last Friday at the age of 95 and his death leaves a huge hole in field of original thinking about management. While nobody can ever fill Peter Drucker’s shoes, I look forward to seeing (and also shudder at the thought of) who, if anyone, steps in to fill the vacuum. Lots of folks are posting their favorite Drucker quotes. I don’t have a favorite…it’s too much like trying to decide on your favorite Jesus quote. Intstead, I’d rather reflect upon why I respect Drucker so much.
- He never rested on his laurels–he kept pushing the field of thought about management as a discipline.
- He was able to communicate abstract concepts in ways that were easily understood by managers up and down corporate ladders.
- He was able to self-evaluate and comment upon the arc of his own thinking across time.
Sounds like the COTC will be doing Drucker memorials for the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned. Monday’s Carnival will be at Gongol.com and the following week at Gill Blog. If you’re still looking for more thoughts on Peter Drucker, here’s Technorati’s list, here’s IceRocket’s list, here’s Feedster’s list, here’s Google Blog Search’s list. There are others, but these kept me busy. One of my favorites is Tom Asacker’s post about his "Drucker experience."
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4 opinions for COTC and Drucker
Dave
Nov 17, 2005 at 3:24 am
What rattles my cage about Peter was his ability to distill a thought. There is more meaning in a three-hundred word Drucker essay than there is in chapters and even books written by other authors.
I began reading Drucker later on in my life, later than authors who could be viewed as popular today. If you really listen, and sometimes you don’t even have to try so hard, you can find the roots of what most authors are trying to say today - in Peter Drucker’s work.
Bren
Nov 17, 2005 at 6:12 am
That’s right on, Dave–esp. the part about finding hints of Drucker in other authors. I think many times it’s unintentional, but Drucker’s ideas are so deeply ingrained in the practice and discipline of management that people write about them without even knowing it.
Robert
Nov 17, 2005 at 10:14 am
I’ve never read any of Drucker’s books — would you like to recommend a place to start? I guess I’m late to the management-thought party, having just recently put “R&D Drucker books” on my project list…
laurence haughton
Nov 17, 2005 at 11:23 am
IMHO if you start with Managing for Results (1964) you’ll “plotz.” It is that good.