Remembering Peter Drucker

If you are at a loose end and would like to spent time productively, here is a suggestion: pick up an book of Peter Drucker's, open it anywhere and start reading. Chances are you will have gained. I remember listening to him at a seminar at Stern School. Along with him were an official of the World Bank and somebody from the corporate world. He spoke briefly and succinctly. It was thought-provoking. When the others followed, it sounded pretty flat. I guess Drucker's cosmic mind had a way of making everybody else look mediocre.

Drucker would have turned 100 last month. The event was widely celebrated. I dipped into some of his writings at random and emerged refreshed as always. Drucker laid down the key principles of management some fifty years ago. They remain relevant because nobody bothers to practise them. And they are not practised because they do require an element of idealism, a commitment to a bigger something. That, alas, is not something you associate with business managers.

I highlight some striking ideas of Drucker's in my ET column, Peter Drucker lives on. One of them really hit me. It was about the board of directors being the Supreme Court, somebody to whom people down below could appeal. Do you know of any board that accepts such a role? Boards are so thoroughly captured by top management that if some middle manager wrote a complaint to them, they would dismiss it, saying, "We can't look at individual cases". Somebody should ask these fellows, "Is there anything you look at other than the cheque for your sitting fee?"