Got myself “The Daily Drucker” for Christmas and hope to read at least one entry each day. The first three were about “Integrity” (Jan 1), “Identifying the Future” (Jan 2) and the “need for Management” (Jan 3).
The one on “Identifying the Future” was interesting (I’m guessing this is a rather notable quote from him since it was mentioned in the intro). It’s not about how accurately you predict change, but how you react to the “change in the current future” in terms of using that change to create new opportunities. It’s a way of looking at and reacting to change. You can either get rolled over by it or look at it as an catalyst for creating opportunities.
The “Indispensable Management” reading was also interesting in that it’s the first definition of Management that I’ve read. I found myself once again in the position of using a term that I though I knew the definition for. I never really looked it up. For Drucker, Management is:
…the organ of society specifically charged with making resource productive, that is, with the responsibility for organized economic advance
Having been in “management” for 5 years now, it’s the first time I’ve really looked at my position in the company, put the definition next to it and realized that I’m not putting a lot of effort into making my folks “economically productive” for the company. I’ve been making them work together as a team, to be better developers, to advance their knowledge and build their skill sets, but those don’t always line up with being economically productive. There’s more to it and I’ll need to figure that out.
Taking these first 3 reading together (Integrity, Change, and Indispensable Management) it’s important that the organization “see” the integrity with which management responds to changing conditions. The level of integrity that is shown at each and every critical change point has a direct impact on how economically productive the organization continues to be (or not be) during that time of change. If change happens often (as it does in the software business), then the level of integrity must be on display often.
Right now the company is in a time of change. Acquiring new business and attacking new markets with new product introduces ripple changes across the board. The integrity I show my team during this time will influence how “economically productive” they are during this time period. It won’t be the only factor, but it will be an important one.
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