Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Reality, Management, and Drucker


Recently, I scanned through a group of articles in the publication of a highly-respected business school. The articles were short and easy to grasp. Each time I hoped to find some insightful point worthy of a blog link.

I did not find a single one. They reminded me of some of the student essays in a business law class I once taught; essays that were filled with smoke but no substance.

What is the difference, I wondered, between the essays of these prominent professors and the work of Peter Drucker? 

One word came to mind: Reality.

When you read Drucker, even if you disagree with him, you have the assurance that he is writing about the real world and that he has challenged his own arguments so they are worthy of serious consideration by a CEO or the leader of a construction crew.

I've read and admired the work of one of the professors and was doubly disappointed to find fluff.

I'll stick to his books.

2 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

To me, it seems there is a difference between people who understand the world through experience and then write books about it and people who understand the world through books and then write books about it. Drucker was the rare man of practical experience and brilliant insights learned from those experiences who was also a great writer.

Michael Wade said...

Daniel,

I agree.

You could always tell that Drucker had been around the block a few times.

Michael