is an affiliate of the drucker school of management
The biggest frustration that we
hear with Peter Drucker’s body of
work is that it’s simply too vast. How
can you possibly find the one insight
that you need among 10,000 book
pages?
One Drucker fan has likened it to
“ trying to figure out where to dip
your cup in the ocean.”
Finally, the search is over.
In early October, we will
launch Drucker
Unpacked— a
series of do- it-yourself
workshops- in- a box that
distills some of Drucker’s most
essential writings so that
organizations can turn his ideas into
action.
Drucker Unpacked was born of a
perfect marriage. We at the Institute
have been talking with executives
from across all sectors about the
challenges that their organizations
are facing, including making more
effective decisions, innovating,
determining what to stop doing,
better understanding their
customers, and reacting to an ever-changing
business environment.
Drucker, of course, had plenty to
say about all of these things. But
beyond telling people to go read his
words or listen to us talk about
them, we didn’t
have a good way
to help convert
Drucker’s
teachings into
practice.
That is, until we
met our friends at the WildWorks
Group. WildWorks has spent years
developing and perfecting a process
by which people can quickly absorb
complex bits of information and then
work collaboratively to apply this
new knowledge.
Drucker Unpacked builds on this
methodology— but adds a twist.
Using self- facilitation tools that
Rick Wartzman, executive director of
the Drucker Institute, writes a bimonthly
column for BusinessWeek online that ties
Peter Drucker’s work to today’s headlines.
For a list of all of his columns, click here.
Rick’s recent “ Drucker Difference” columns:
• Health- Care Reform: The Right Kind of Compromise Aug 21, 2009
• Management as a Liberal Art Aug 7, 2009
• Innovation Isn’t Just for Startups July 24, 2009
• Manage Your Boss July 10, 2009
Letter from Claremont
“ The Drucker Difference” on BusinessWeek. com
Drucker Society Spotlight
How Drucker Societies worldwide are
advancing ethical leadership and effective
management.
Many people have labeled Peter
Drucker a “ business guru.” And it’s easy to
see why, given that he advised IBM, Intel,
Procter & Gamble, General Electric and
many other corporate giants.
But Drucker also worked closely with
an array of nonprofits, including the Girl
Scouts and Red Cross, and counseled a
host of government officials as well.
It is in this spirit that the Drucker
Society of Northern California, centered in
Chico and under the leadership of Scott
Winter, is determined to have an impact
across the whole community.
Rather than focusing on just
corporations, academia, nonprofits, or
public agencies, Winter is using Drucker’s
insights to, as he puts it, “ increase
capacity and really get things done.”
The Society has already presented
our “ Closing the Responsibility Gap”
Continued on the next page Continued on the next page
claremont graduate university
Find out what the world’s greatest management thinker means to today’s business leaders in a new book co-authored
by the faculty of the Drucker School of Management. Pre- order now available from
1021 n dartmouth ave, claremont, ca 91711
THE WINDOW “ I don’t predict. I just look out the window and see what’s visible but not yet seen.”
— Peter F. Drucker
The newsletter of the Drucker Institute www. druckerinstitute. com Sept/ oct 2009
is an affiliate of the drucker school of management
WildWorks created specifically for Unpacked, participants teach themselves core
Drucker principles and then leave the workshop— just two- and- a- half hours later
— with an action plan in hand, both for their team and for each individual member.
Because Unpacked is self- guided, it eliminates the need for a costly
management consultant or expert facilitator. And at just $ 399 per workshop, it
costs about as much as a nice lunch for the team.
Perhaps the best part is that anyone can do it. During one of our pilot tests,
we specifically asked that the shiest person in the group, who knew nothing about
Peter Drucker, act as facilitator. She tucked her nose into the pages of our
facilitator guide and read straight from the script that’s included. Still, the
workshop was an unqualified success.
If you’d like to be notified when Unpacked is available for purchase later this
fall, just drop us an email at unpacked@ druckerinstitute. com.
Rick Wartzman and Zach First
Executive Director and Managing Director
Celebrate the Drucker Centennial this
fall at events around the world.
Learn more at www. Drucker100. com.
After considering Peter Drucker’s
long and accomplished career, Sumantra
Ghoshal of the London Business School
remarked that Drucker practiced “ the
scholarship of common sense.”
This was no backhanded
compliment, coming after Drucker not
only had written dozens of books and
countless scholarly articles, but had also
seen his principles applied by many of
the world’s largest companies and
nonprofits. He was a university
professor and a
philosopher, to be sure,
but one who was clearly
mindful of having an
impact in the real world.
What is striking is
that this practical bent
seems to have marked
Drucker from the start.
A flyer from the early
‘ 40s, promoting a series
of “ stimulating and
highly informative” talks
by Drucker on “ economic
forces at work in the
world today,” presents a thinker who
has established quite a reputation for
himself, even though he is only in his
30s.
This circular calls particular
attention to Drucker’s first book, 1939‘ s
The End of Economic Man, which it says
“ is being hailed by economists
everywhere as the most thought-provoking
analysis of the totalitarian
ideology that has yet appeared.” During
his lectures, the flyer notes, Drucker is
“ keenly alert to the
philosophic concepts
and social
implications of his
material.”
But then it
adds this: “ They are
presented in terms
that the average
businessman can
understand and
appreciate.” Drucker,
it declares, is “ one
expert with his feet
on the ground.”
program to business students at Cal
State Chico.
The session is designed to
introduce people to some of
Drucker’s main ideas on effective
management and ethical leadership
— no matter which sector they’re in.
Soon, the Society will deliver
the “ Responsibility Gap”
presentation to city managers and
the Rotary Club. It is also set to
convene area nonprofit leaders to
“ bring them onboard,” Winter says.
For Winter, Drucker provides a
“ common language” with which all
these local leaders can grow
“ familiar and comfortable.”
Our community has “ limited
resources and capacity,” Winter
says. “ The key is to manage those
resources proactively and to fill the
gaps” that inevitably develop when
groups take a narrow view of their
responsibilities.
In Chico, they’re taking the wide
view— which is to say the Drucker
view— instead.
Society Spotlight, cont’d
Letter from Claremont, cont’d
The newsletter of the Drucker Institute www. druckerinstitute. com Sept/ Oct 2009
FROM THE ARCHIVES
