{"id":45342,"date":"2021-08-05T09:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T13:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=45342"},"modified":"2021-08-16T09:32:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T13:32:55","slug":"the-effective-executive-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-effective-executive-book\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effective Executive: Book Review (Peter Drucker)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive<\/em> worth reading? How does the author define effectiveness? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Effective Executive<\/em>, a 1966 classic by management expert Peter F. Drucker, explains how to manage yourself to be effective. He defines effectiveness as choosing and doing the right things\u2014that is, the things that significantly improve personal and organizational performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This The Effective Executive<\/em> book review takes a look at the book’s context, background, and critical reception by the readers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Drucker, who died in 2005, is referred to as the founder of modern management<\/a>. A leader in management theory and practice for over 60 years, he authored 39 books and countless articles, including more than 30 essays in the Harvard Business Review<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drucker was born in Austria, received a doctoral degree in Frankfurt, and worked as a reporter in Germany before fleeing to England upon Hitler\u2019s rise to power. He moved to the U.S. in 1937, later becoming a citizen, and taught at New York University and Claremont Graduate University, among other institutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1939, he published his first book, The End of Economic Man<\/em><\/a>, an examination of totalitarianism that influenced Winston Churchill. He began writing about management with Concept of the Corporation<\/em><\/a> in 1946, about his study of General Motors (GM). He followed up with The Practice of Management<\/em><\/a> (1954), Managing for Results<\/em><\/a> (1964), Drucker on<\/em><\/a> Management<\/em> (1971), and many more works. He continued to write books and articles into the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President George W. Bush awarded Drucker the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 for his contributions to management theory. Drucker\u2019s obituary in the New York Times<\/em> noted that his ideas on management were so influential that a comment from him could change the way top corporate leaders operated<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book\u2019s Publication<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Published in 1967, The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done<\/em> was Drucker\u2019s eighth book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Effective Executive<\/em> and other Drucker books are published by HarperCollins<\/a> and Routledge<\/a>. USA Today<\/em> listed it as one of the 12 best business books of all time<\/a>, and it continues to get regular reviews on Amazon and GoodReads 55 years after publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2006, Drucker and Joseph Maciariello wrote a follow-up book, The Effective Executive in Action: A Journal for Getting the Right Things Done<\/em><\/a> which contains journaling prompts and other activities based on Drucker\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In an author\u2019s note in the 2002 HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Effective Executive<\/em>, Drucker wrote that he originally developed the ideas in the book as a program for senior officials in the Eisenhower administration. But the concepts still apply to all kinds of executives, knowledge workers, and organizations, including nonprofits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intellectual Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Drucker was a wide-ranging and prescient thinker. For example, he recognized the rise of the information society. He also coined the term knowledge worker<\/a>, recognizing the economic transition from manual workers to professionals who independently apply analytical knowledge and creativity to solve complex problems<\/a> or to develop products and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His understanding of the knowledge worker<\/a> informed his ideas about what makes a leader, or anyone tasked with independent thinking<\/a> and decision-making<\/a>, effective. In The Effective Executive<\/em> and further writing, he described how leaders should manage knowledge workers differently from task workers and how both can get better results for the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book\u2019s Impact<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Drucker\u2019s ideas helped shape the corporation as we know it.<\/strong> He developed the concept of MBOs, or management by objectives<\/a>, in the 1950s, a forerunner of today\u2019s OKRs (Objectives and Key Results<\/a>). He was a leader in the development of management education, having started one of the nation\u2019s first executive MBA programs. Drucker also understood the importance of decentralization<\/a>, strategic planning, innovation, marketing, and customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to inspiring the widespread adoption of MBOs and other business practices, Drucker\u2019s work served as the foundation for countless leadership and personal development books and training programs. For example, his ideas on time blocking<\/a> and prioritizing in The Effective Executive<\/em> inspired contemporary time management practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drucker\u2019s ideas about effectiveness and management have continued to influence business leaders and authors\u2014for example, the late Jack Welch<\/a>, Tom Peters, Jim Collins (Good to Great<\/em><\/a>), Ken Blanchard, Andrew Grove (High Output Management<\/em><\/a>)<\/em>, Jeff Bezos, Stephen Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People<\/em><\/a> and First Things First<\/em><\/a>) and Tim Ferriss (The 4-Hour Workweek<\/em><\/a>). In an article on his website, Collins discusses 10 lessons learned from Drucker<\/a>\u2014for instance, determine the most distinctive contribution you can make to your organization, and focus on making it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others look for answers to contemporary issues in Drucker\u2019s work. Harvard Business School researcher and management theorist Rosabeth Moss Kantor wrote several HBR articles (including What would Peter say?<\/a>) on how Drucker might have viewed challenges such as climate change and health care, excessive executive pay, and competition from emerging markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book\u2019s Critical Reception<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The fact that so many people have adopted and built on Drucker\u2019s ideas about effectiveness and management over decades\u2014despite the sea changes in technology and organizations since he started writing about business\u2014is a testament to their enduring value and utility. As noted earlier, The Effective Executive<\/em> continues to get online reviews from contemporary readers who cite the ideas\u2019 practicality. The main criticism is that Drucker\u2019s language and writing style are \u201cdated,\u201d or that the ideas are \u201cnothing new,\u201d notwithstanding the fact that they are foundational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, Drucker\u2019s books have come in for little criticism\u2014although overall, he\u2019s been criticized for being more of a popular writer and generalist than a scholar and for being more practical than theoretical. Many of his ideas have simply become the way businesses are run. (For example, a 2009 Harvard Business Review<\/em> article, \u201cWhy Read Peter Drucker?\u201d, describes his ideas as part of \u201ctoday\u2019s commonsense understanding of business.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore Drucker\u2019s Ideas<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n