Monday, December 24, 2012

Blog Carnival 2012 - Peter Drucker's Management Philosophy



One of my favorite blogs on leadership is John Hunter’s Curious Cat Management Improvement Connections.  Besides a number of informative posts on a variety of improvement-related topics, John regularly hosts a management blog carnival, where various business and leadership blogs are featured.

This year, I’m happy to participate in the carnival with information on some of the blogs I read on a regular basis.  Reviews of all of the blogs featured in this year’s carnival can be found at http://curiouscat.com/management/carnival_2012.cfm

My first review in this year’s carnival is Peter Drucker’s Management Philosophy by Jorrian Gelink.  I don’t know Jorrian personally, but after reading his blog, he is obviously a Drucker zealot with excellent insight into Peter Drucker’s management philosophy.

Peter Drucker’s teachings are closely aligned with a lean mindset.  I have always found the information he provided to be a great fit with W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge, and a necessary component of effective leadership.  Although Deming regularly attacked Management by Objectives (MBO), I believe he was more disappointed with how MBO was implemented than the method itself.  In fact, Drucker even said that MBO only works if objectives are carefully thought through, and that 90% of the time, they aren’t.

I believe much of Drucker’s teachings have been lost over the last several years, as companies look for quick and easy ways to “become lean.”  I applaud Gelink for keeping it alive and using it to teach current and future leaders that Drucker’s philosophy is as relevant today as it was when he was alive.  I enjoy reading Gelink’s posts and expect to continue to learn from the Peter Drucker’s Management Philosophy in the future.

Gelink organizes the blog into four main sections:  Executive Basics, Management Basics, People Management, and Entrepreneurship.  There is also an excellent search tool that makes it easy to find posts on a number of management topics.  A sample of Jorrian’s posts is listed below:

Fear of Conflict – Why Conflict is Necessary  An excellent summary of the benefits of healthy conflict in any organization.  The post reminds me of The Abliene Paradox by Jerry B. Harvey; a story where family members agree to drive 53 miles to Abilene for lunch, even though nobody really wants to do it.  To avoid conflict, however, they all go along, have a terrible time, and blame each other upon returning home.  Unfortunately, too many organizations suffer from the Abilene Paradox because of the absence of open, healthy conflict.

In the post, Jorrian writes, “the result of a stronger, discussed plan is increased effectiveness, and overall satisfaction of those involved because their input was considered into it.

What is Our Mission?  The Heart of the Organization  Whether deploying lean or not, the importance of a clear and unchanging purpose is critical to success.  Without a clear mission, there is no team – there is only a group of individuals who define success on their own terms.  Any success without a consistent purpose is accidental and destined to be short-lived.

In providing direction for defining the purpose, Jorrian wrote, “the mission starts with what is on the outside of the organization; not with what is inside.  Entrepreneurs that fail are the ones that do what they want to do, instead of what their customer wants.”  Examples of mission statements from successful technology-based companies are provided within the post.

In Personal Development – Becoming Effective in Your Role, Jorrian provides the distinction between being effective and efficient, specifically that effectiveness results from doing the right things.

The post hits on one of Drucker’s most important teachings – the idea that understanding, developing, and continually using your strengths is what leads to success.  Jorrian writes that aligning individual strengths with the organization will lead to increased effectiveness and personal success.

I have so many interesting books on reading list that I will never have the time to complete.  As with Deming, I learn a great deal each time I re-read one of Drucker’s books because he had so much to teach.  Reading Peter Drucker’s Management Philosophy allows me to keep up on Drucker’s theories even when I don’t have the time to re-read his books.

More information on the 2012 Management Improvement Blog Review can be found at http://curiouscat.com/management/carnival_2012.cfm.  For specific posts from this year’s carnival, please go to http://management.curiouscatblog.net/category/carnival/.

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