Management Challenges for the 21st Century

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary Insight!
Review: Peter Drucker contines to amazing me! Now in his 90s, he is the most insightful writer in the world on the subject of management. As a management consultant myself, I benefitted from every page of this book!

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful management mind!
Review: Peter Drucker has a beautiful mind, forever fresh and overflowing with innovative thoughts. This book, published just as the master of management began his tenth decade of life, shows him at his perpetual best. The text carries with it the sweeping knowledge, deep experience, and astute analysis that a reader might expect from Drucker at this point in his life. But you will find no timid conservatism, no holding on to safe ground here. Drucker has made a lifelong habit of leading the way in business thought and this book confirms that he just can't help himself.

In contrast to the typical business book which is 200 pages too long, every chapter and every page of Management Challenges for the 21st Century relentlessly tweaks the noses of bad assumptions while focusing our attention on the future. Drucker pulls together diverse trends and forces to map out the truly new management challenges. His first chapter, "Management's New Paradigms" argues that organizations (or what ManyWorlds calls "business architecture") will have to become part of the executive's toolbox, yet we continue to operate on outdated assumptions about the role and domain of management.

Fortunately much recent management thinking explicitly challenges one assumption pulled apart by Drucker: The idea that the inside of the organization is the domain of management. This assumption, says Drucker, "explains the otherwise totally incomprehensible distinction between management and entrepreneurship". These are two aspects of the same task. Management without entrepreneurship (and vice versa) cannot survive in a world where every organization must be "designed for change as the norm and to create change rather than react to it."

Although Drucker is intent on uprooting old certainties and focusing organizations on constant change, he does not leave the reader without a compass. In the second chapter, "Strategy-The New Certainties", Drucker says that strategy allows an organization to be "purposefully opportunistic" and explains five certainties around we can shape our strategy. While other writers have addressed a couple of these, too little attention has been paid to some of the inevitabilities analyzed here, including the collapsing birthrate, shifts in the distribution of disposable income, and the growing incongruence between economic globalization and political splintering.

The book's third chapter, "The Change Leader", gives Drucker's unique perspective on the need for 21st organizations to be change leaders. "One cannot *manage* change. One can only be ahead of it." Change leaders have four qualities. They create policies to make the future which means not only continual improvement but *organized abandonment* - a practice still almost unknown in practice. Contrary to typical company reactions, change leaders will starve problems and feed opportunities. For Drucker this means, in part, having a policy of systematic innovation and - in tune with recent calls for new budgetary practices - having two separate budgets to ensure that the future-creating budget is not stopped off in difficult times.

Strong as the first chapters are, I found the other chapters of this book even more incisive. The reader may come away with the sense that many of Drucker's points are obvious, but will realize that they only *became* obvious after hearing them. In his chapter on "Information Challenges", Drucker gives his own, historically-rich, controversial, and provocative take on our current information revolution - the fourth such revolution, he says).

The man who coined the term "knowledge worker" has no shortage of fresh thoughts in the chapter on "Knowledge-Worker Productivity", and has profoundly important things to say in the final chapter on "Managing Oneself". Management Challenges for the 21st Century is, of course, essential reading for aspiring manager-entrepreneurs in these confusing times. As for aspiring business writers, I can only say: Read it and weep!

Rating:
Summary: THE AGENDA FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS
Review: Peter Drucker has become very much unlike Peter Drucker in this book, and for the better. He tells us what to work on, how to do it, and gives us the key questions to stay focused on the right aspects of the issues. He has gone from guru to guidance, and I appreciate the change. Any business will be greatly improved by paying attention to his ideas, beginning with being a better manager of oneself. The CEOs I work with often undermine their own success by not systematically improving how they function. This book gives them a way to do that. I plan to share it with everyone I know. For even more help in how to address these challenges, you should read and apply the lessons of THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION, which is an outstanding book on how to improve organizations through helping create better habits that lead to systematic, effective innovation with less effort, less strain, and in fewer hours. That latter book is also very good at asking questions like those found in MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. You should also read THE PURSUIT OF PRIME, to diagnose your organization's development.

Rating:
Summary: A Book For All Professionals, Not Just Managers
Review: Peter Drucker is a thinker who gets to the heart of issues and can make one see the world, and one's self, in a different way.

That may seem like a grandiose claim for what, on the surface, is merely a business book. But if you're the least bit familiar with Drucker's numerous books and articles, written over a 60-year career, you already suspect that this isn't a mere business book. We live in times of turbulent change. Drucker's task is to make us SEE, to give us guiding insights and principles. He illuminates the deeper forces of history, of economics, of society, which managers in ALL kinds of instituations - hospitals, universities, churches, nonprofits, governments, and of course businesses - will inevitably face. Drucker not only calls for a new paradigm of management, but he outlines that new paradigm - and more importantly, contrasts it with the old paradigm. The word paradigm itself has become cliche, but Drucker's analysis is hardly fluffy or faddish.

And that's just in the first chapter. In the rest of this brief (207 pages) but potent book, he expounds (as evidenced by the chapter titles) on the following themes: Strategy - The New Certainties; The Change Leader; Information Challenges; Knowledge-Worker Productivity; Managing Oneself. The latter chapter alone - which is about managing one's career(s) in light of the insights provided in the foregoing chapters - is alone worth the price of admission. There are several small gems of practical advice in that chapter alone, and it also gives one food for ongoing thought (as does the rest of the book).

As Drucker himself concludes, this book is ultimately not about the future of management. It's about the future of society. In reading it (or any of Drucker's other works), you get the sense you're in the presence of a great thinker who has a passion for truth. This book isn't just for managers, it's for all "knowledge workers" who seek a sophisticated perspective on deep historical forces which will affect everybody in all developed countries. Drucker consciously intended - and in my opinion succeeded - to write a practical book for people who aren't afraid to think and challenge their assumptions about the world and themselves. Drucker's focus is utlimately on *action*. He doesn't give recipes, he gives questions, insights, and principles on which to formulate actions and make decisions. He even offers advice on how to get the most out of his book.

A couple of notes about Drucker's writing style, for those who haven't read him before: Drucker's prose and word rhythms can sometimes be quirky. He has a fondness for occasionally "quoting" words and for EMPHASIZING THINGS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. He's not a fuzzy-minded loudmouth, though. That's part of his natural, unpretentious style, and his message doesn't suffer for it.

Also, in this particular book, Drucker uses a layout technique which I initially found to be confusing, but I eventually came to appreciate. He sprinkles the entire book - without warning or explanation - with paragraphs that are indented further in from the "main" paragraphs. At first I thought he was quoting himself from his earlier works. But I finally realized that the indented paragraphs are "meat", in the form of specific examples or historical references. Once I figured that out, they didn't bother me, and in fact I appreciated the layout.

In summary: read this book! It's much more worthwhile than most business or change-your-life seminars, which can cost hundreds of times more.

Rating:
Summary: A Book For All Professionals, Not Just Managers
Review: Peter Drucker is a thinker who gets to the heart of issues and can make one see the world, and one's self, in a different way.

That may seem like a grandiose claim for what, on the surface, is merely a business book. But if you're the least bit familiar with Drucker's numerous books and articles, written over a 60-year career, you already suspect that this isn't a mere business book. We live in times of turbulent change. Drucker's task is to make us SEE, to give us guiding insights and principles. He illuminates the deeper forces of history, of economics, of society, which managers in ALL kinds of instituations - hospitals, universities, churches, nonprofits, governments, and of course businesses - will inevitably face. Drucker not only calls for a new paradigm of management, but he outlines that new paradigm - and more importantly, contrasts it with the old paradigm. The word paradigm itself has become cliche, but Drucker's analysis is hardly fluffy or faddish.

And that's just in the first chapter. In the rest of this brief (207 pages) but potent book, he expounds (as evidenced by the chapter titles) on the following themes: Strategy - The New Certainties; The Change Leader; Information Challenges; Knowledge-Worker Productivity; Managing Oneself. The latter chapter alone - which is about managing one's career(s) in light of the insights provided in the foregoing chapters - is alone worth the price of admission. There are several small gems of practical advice in that chapter alone, and it also gives one food for ongoing thought (as does the rest of the book).

As Drucker himself concludes, this book is ultimately not about the future of management. It's about the future of society. In reading it (or any of Drucker's other works), you get the sense you're in the presence of a great thinker who has a passion for truth. This book isn't just for managers, it's for all "knowledge workers" who seek a sophisticated perspective on deep historical forces which will affect everybody in all developed countries. Drucker consciously intended - and in my opinion succeeded - to write a practical book for people who aren't afraid to think and challenge their assumptions about the world and themselves. Drucker's focus is utlimately on *action*. He doesn't give recipes, he gives questions, insights, and principles on which to formulate actions and make decisions. He even offers advice on how to get the most out of his book.

A couple of notes about Drucker's writing style, for those who haven't read him before: Drucker's prose and word rhythms can sometimes be quirky. He has a fondness for occasionally "quoting" words and for EMPHASIZING THINGS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. He's not a fuzzy-minded loudmouth, though. That's part of his natural, unpretentious style, and his message doesn't suffer for it.

Also, in this particular book, Drucker uses a layout technique which I initially found to be confusing, but I eventually came to appreciate. He sprinkles the entire book - without warning or explanation - with paragraphs that are indented further in from the "main" paragraphs. At first I thought he was quoting himself from his earlier works. But I finally realized that the indented paragraphs are "meat", in the form of specific examples or historical references. Once I figured that out, they didn't bother me, and in fact I appreciated the layout.

In summary: read this book! It's much more worthwhile than most business or change-your-life seminars, which can cost hundreds of times more.

Rating:
Summary: When The Guru Speaks ... You Must Listen !!
Review: Peter Drucker once again has floored me with his insights and ideals. As he pointed out in the introduction, this is not a book of predictions. But what he did provide were insights into issues facing management and soon to be facing management.

If you plan on managing into the future you really need to read this book!

Rating:
Summary: 90 years of living went into this book
Review: Peter Drucker wrote this book when he was 90. The great advantage he has is that we lived through all the stages and phases of the management theory and practise in this century. He has seen it. There is no one else that has so much accumulated knowleadge in this field. The book is very easy to read. It explaines some very elementary things that seem so obvious that you may think - why didn't I think about it before? The book is very useful for all managers in every possible type of organization - from a corporation to a hospital. But it seems to me that it is implicitly written for managers in the field of finance. For them the two most important parts of the book are the one about the demograhics and the one about the exchange rates volatility. Non managers - regular employees - would also benefit a great deal from reading this book. It urges you to realize that since you will probably live much longer than previous generations you must take a different approach to your life. Especially regarding your financial planning and continuous education. Really an excellent piece of work!

Rating:
Summary: Six Major Factors of Knowledge Worker Productivity.
Review: Peter F. Drucker writes in the Introduction, "...this is not a book of 'predictions,' not a book about the 'future.' The challenges and issues discussed in it are already with us in every one of the developed countries and in most of the emerging ones (e.g., Korea or Turkey). They can already be identified, discussed, analyzed and prescribed for. Some people, someplace, are already working on them. But so far very few organizations do, and very few executives. Those who do work on these challenges today, and thus prepare themselves and their institutions for the new challenges, will be the leaders and dominate tomorrow. Those who wait until these challenges have indeed become 'hot' issues are likely to fall behind, perhaps never to recover. This book is thus a Call for Action."

In this context, in Chapter 5 of this invaluable book, Drucker focuses on knowledge worker. He says that "the most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the 'manual worker' in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of 'knowledge work' and the 'knowledge worker.' The most valuable assets of a 20th-century company were its production equipment. The most valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or nonbusiness, will be its knowledge workers and their productivity."

Thus, he defines six major factors determine knowledge worker productivity as follows:

1. Knowledge worker productivity demands that we ask the question: "What is the task?"

2. It demands that we impose the responsibility for their productivity on the individual knowledge workers themselves. Knowledge workers have to manage themselves. They have to have authonomy.

3. Continuing innovation has to be part of the work, the task and the responsibility of knowledge workers.

4. Knowledge work requires continuous learning on the part of the knowledge worker, but equally continuous teaching on the part of the knowledge worker.

5. Productivity of the knowledge worker is not-at least not primarily-a matter of the quantity of output. Quality is at least as important.

6. Finally, knowledge worker productivity requires that the knowledge worker is both seen and treated as an "asset" rather than a "cost." It requires that knowledge workers want to work for the organization in preference to all other opportunities.

He argues that each of these requirements-except perhaps the last one-is almost the exact opposite of what is needed to increase the productivity of the manual worker.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Six Major Factors of Knowledge Worker Productivity.
Review: Peter F. Drucker writes in the Introduction, "...this is not a book of 'predictions,' not a book about the 'future.' The challenges and issues discussed in it are already with us in every one of the developed countries and in most of the emerging ones (e.g., Korea or Turkey). They can already be identified, discussed, analyzed and prescribed for. Some people, someplace, are already working on them. But so far very few organizations do, and very few executives. Those who do work on these challenges today, and thus prepare themselves and their institutions for the new challenges, will be the leaders and dominate tomorrow. Those who wait until these challenges have indeed become 'hot' issues are likely to fall behind, perhaps never to recover. This book is thus a Call for Action."

In this context, in Chapter 5 of this invaluable book, Drucker focuses on knowledge worker. He says that "the most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the 'manual worker' in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of 'knowledge work' and the 'knowledge worker.' The most valuable assets of a 20th-century company were its production equipment. The most valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or nonbusiness, will be its knowledge workers and their productivity."

Thus, he defines six major factors determine knowledge worker productivity as follows:

1. Knowledge worker productivity demands that we ask the question: "What is the task?"

2. It demands that we impose the responsibility for their productivity on the individual knowledge workers themselves. Knowledge workers have to manage themselves. They have to have authonomy.

3. Continuing innovation has to be part of the work, the task and the responsibility of knowledge workers.

4. Knowledge work requires continuous learning on the part of the knowledge worker, but equally continuous teaching on the part of the knowledge worker.

5. Productivity of the knowledge worker is not-at least not primarily-a matter of the quantity of output. Quality is at least as important.

6. Finally, knowledge worker productivity requires that the knowledge worker is both seen and treated as an "asset" rather than a "cost." It requires that knowledge workers want to work for the organization in preference to all other opportunities.

He argues that each of these requirements-except perhaps the last one-is almost the exact opposite of what is needed to increase the productivity of the manual worker.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The Wisdom of Perspective
Review: Surveying the authors in today's "Business & Finance" section can give you an acute case of guru overload. Leadership gurus. Management gurus. Self-actualization gurus. Egotists. Hagiographers. Monomaniacs. Sheepish academics in vulpine inspirational-speaker clothing. Thinkers who can't write. Writers with nothing to say. It's enough to make a grown critic weep.

But soft! what light from yonder bookshelf breaks? It is Peter Drucker, and his writing is the sun. For over sixty years, Drucker has built his reputation on his penetrating insight, deadpan style, intelligent marshalling of facts, and sturdy common sense. Drucker's books and articles don't tout crackpot theories, or substitute emphasis for evidence. He recognizes how the world truly works, and decries baseless shoulds and untested presumptions as "simply nonsense". Above all Drucker offers perspective: intelligent observations, practical advice, and a historically informed long view that distinguishes genuine challenges from faux revolutions.

_Management Challenges for the 21st Century_, the latest in Drucker's string of successes, is a welcome antidote to the widespread contagion of alarmist, brave-new-world, everything-you-believed-is-wrong assertions. Drucker enjoys testing assumptions, and he begins by debunking some of the most jealously guarded, including "management is business management" and "management is internally focused". He knows what's new, what's old, and where the true distinctions lie, decrying the "totally incomprehensible distinction between management and entrepreneurship" and remarking wryly that today's Information Revolution is merely the fourth of its kind in world history (and not even the fastest or most sweeping). Strategy has its place in the sun, and Drucker's recommendations and "organized abandonment" approach are as revealing as anything ever produced by Michael Porter - and much more readable. The final chapter of _Management Challenges_ is the most immediately useful, for here the author takes a refreshingly balanced look at managing oneself. Styles, values, even manners have their place, and Drucker's invitation to capitalize on strengths and take responsibility for relationships will win the hearts of all the square pegs trying to pound themselves into round corporate holes.

No book is perfect, unfortunately. Putting aside Drucker's comic-strip APPROACH to EMPHASIS, there is at times a suggestion of old wine in new bottles, although the wine is of a particularly excellent vintage. But no connoisseur or novice need carp at the pleasures offered by _Management Challenges for the 21st Century_. If you read only one Business & Finance book this June, read this one. Summertime is too fleeting for guru overload.