The Burden of Leadership

On Friday Barack Obama had his first press conference (not pictured) following his historic victory (pictured) and stuck to the Drucker playbook. It is Drucker who has said that an executive can only focus on one or two priorities at a time. On Friday, President Elect Obama had only one priority—the flailing economy that continues to disappoint with each and every new number released. (Just this morning Circuit City declared bankruptcy and thousands of other jobs were cut at other large firms).

Surrounded by his VP and new Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and a crowded team of economic heavyweights that included former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, President Elect Obama gave a sobering statement on the economy.

Just that morning a report was released that unemployment had increased to 6.5 percent, the highest since 1994. We now have lost 1.2 million jobs in 2008. The Dow has lost a stunning 5,000 points amidst the greatest collapse in confidence since the 1929 stock market crash.

However, what struck me most about the press conference was not the substance but the demeanor of the newly elected president. Gone was care-free candidate Barack; in his place was President Elect Obama, whose future burdens and responsibilities weighed heavily enough on his mind to alter the very way he carried himself.

It was clear that he understood the enormity of the task ahead and what is expected of him. Peter Drucker felt that a man of character “sees leadership as responsibility rather than rank and privilege.” He also said ”the new tasks demand that the manager of tomorrow root every action and decision in the bedrock of principles, that he lead not only through knowledge, competence and skill but through vision, courage, responsibility and integrity.” He added “when things go wrong—and they always do—they don’t blame others.”

Drucker also stated :”In the final analysis it is vision and moral responsibility that define the manager.” Only time will tell if Barack Obama can live up to Drucker’s vision of the ideal leader—one who acts in a way consistent with his bedrock principles—one who leads through moral courage and responsibility. However, when it comes to an Obama administration, in which expectations soar as high as the rhetoric, vision and moral responsibility is only the cost of admission. What is expected of this new president—especially one who has already inspired so many millions—is results.

“Management,” said Drucker “must always, in every decision and action, put economic performance first. It can justify its existence and its authority by the economic results it produces.”

Perhaps there has never been a time in our country’s history in which economic results are so important to the future functioning of our republic. Drucker espoused those words in 1954—but they have never been more true than they are today.

Photo credit: CBS News

November 10, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Management

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Obama, the Natural

Drucker spent much time talking about “naturals”—those gifted people who are viewed as “born” managers. Naturals set the right priorities, spark others to perform, and know how to make the “life and death” decisions (who to hire, fire, and promote).

Naturals do not micro-manage people to death. They understand intuitively that autocratic, bully-like leaders are not effective and are part of yesterday.

Naturals know a lot of things that others do not. They understand that intimidation and scare tactics have no place in an organization. That kind of toxic behavior is stifling and hurts the morale of the unit. It also shuts down creativity. After all, who wants to take a risk by presenting a new idea when they are likely to be slapped down?

Naturals are confident. That’s no small feat. GE’s former chairman Jack Welch once said that finding a truly confident individual is rare indeed.

Naturals trust their own judgment and have “edge”—they know how to make the tough decisions. They say yes or no and eschew the maybes.

Barack—the Natural?

By most anyone’s judgment, Barack Obama closely adheres to Drucker’s definition of a natural. He would have to be to defeat all comers in a grueling, two-year campaign at the young age of 47. Not that he will be the youngest president—that honor goes to Teddy Roosevelt who was only 42 when he was sworn in after the assassination of McKinley in 1901. Next comes John F. Kennedy (43) and Bill Clinton (46). On January 20th, Obama will be sworn in as our fifth youngest president, knocking Grover Cleveland out of the top five (#4 is Ulysses S. Grant, who, by the way, wrote the best presidential autobiography in history).

Obama ran an incredibly disciplined campaign, as was discussed in the last posting. What I left out was some of the other qualities that made him one of those once-every-other-generation type candidates. His incredible ability to remain cool under fire. No matter what was thrown at him he remained incredibly unflappable. That was in marked contrast to McCain’s lurching behavior in the final days of the campaign.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of Barack, the natural, is his lack of any substantial unforced errors throughout the campaign. Pundits called it the most disciplined campaign they had seen in decades. In all those many months and dozens of debates he did not make any major gaffes (the comment about Pennsylvanians sticking to their guns and religion does not rise to the level of a significant “operating unforced error”).

As important is the lack of unforced errors on the part of Obama staffers. Well, there was one Obama staffer who called Senator Hillary Clinton a “monster” during the primaries, but she was summarily dismissed and the incident was quickly forgotten.

What does all of this tell us about how Obama will lead? He will be incredibly well disciplined, will lead by inspiring rather than intimidating people, and run a very tight ship. With his second major hiring decision (Joseph Biden was first)—Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff, Obama is also showing us his pragmatic self as well. Emanuel, a seasoned politico, worked as a top level aide in Bill Clinton’s administration, and is well versed in the ways of Washington (from Congress to the White House). And he was selected for the right reason: Obama said “no one is better at getting things done as Rahm Emanuel.” Once again, we have the President-elect focused like a laser on performance, accomplishment, and achievement. And that is vintage Drucker:

“Management, in every decision and action, must put…performance first,” declared Drucker.

So far Obama has followed the Drucker script quite closely. Come back in future days and weeks to see if Obama continues to stick to the Drucker playbook.

November 7, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Inside Publishing, Management

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If Peter Drucker Rated the 2008 Presidential Election

If Peter Drucker—the inventor of management and the chronicler of great leaders— was still alive, he would not have been surprised by the outcome of the presidential election. He would have known that the Obama strategy and execution of its campaign was superior to Senator McCain’s weeks before Election Day.

Peter Drucker was a shrewd observer of our presidents. Ever since the Kennedy-Nixon debate of 1960, the candidate most able to exude charisma not only won the majority of elections, but also stayed in power the longest. There was John F. Kennedy, of course, but there was also Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, the only two-term presidents to complete both of their terms since Dwight D. Eisenhower (Nixon won but didn’t finish his second term).

However, Drucker felt that charisma was a poor indicator of how a prospective candidate would perform as a president.

Drucker felt that charisma—by itself—was a dangerous leadership quality. “Indeed, charisma becomes the undoing of leaders…leadership is not magnetic personality; it is not ‘making friends and influencing people’—that is salesmanship,” asserted Drucker. “It makes them inflexible, convinced of their own infallibility, unable to change,” he concluded.

His choice of America’s greatest president of the 20th century confirms this: Harry Truman, America’s 33rd president, “the-buck-stops-here” president. Drucker’sadmiration of Truman had nothing to do with charisma. “Truman was as bland as a dead mackerel,” asserted Drucker. However, continued Drucker, “everybody who worked for him worshipped him because he was absolutely trustworthy.”

The most charismatic leaders of the 20th century, proclaimed Drucker, were Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Mussolini. He called them “mis-leaders!” In addition to Truman, he rated Ronald Reagan as one of the most effective presidents of the last century. “Reagan’s great strength was not charisma, as is commonly thought,” Drucker explained, “but that he knew exactly what he could do and what he could not do.”

Unique Leadership Qualities

Drucker felt that the qualities that made leaders great were specific to each leader. He regarded Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, George Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bernard Montgomery, and Douglas MacArthur as extraordinary leaders during the second World War. However, “no two of them shared any ‘personality traits’ or any ‘qualities.’”

Given Drucker’s view on charisma, he would have been cynical of Barack Obama, at least at the outset. It is likely he would have viewed Obama as a JFK-like contender, and despite Kennedy’s iconic popularity, Drucker did not give America’s 36th president high marks: “John F. Kennedy may have been the most charismatic person to occupy the White House. Yet few presidents got as little done.”

But Drucker would have known weeks before the election that Obama would have won. The following factors would have been decisive in Drucker’s mind in evaluating an Obama victory:

Exhibited Consistency and Decisiveness: Drucker felt that consistency was an absolute critical quality of effective leaders. From the first day of the campaign to the last, Obama’s message of change did not waver. He also defined his opponent’s campaign by describing it as a third Bush term, which resonated with most voters since Senator McCain’s voting record was almost identical to President Bush’s. Also, McCain’s message was anything but consistent, shifting from “experience” to “change,” to Obama’s alleged “association with domestic terrorists,” and back again.

Won Customers and Non-Customers: Drucker urged leaders not to forget non-customers who had the potential to be turned into customers. From the start—in fact, from before the start, from the stirring speech he made at the 2004 Democratic Convention—Obama said “there are no red states, there are no blue states, there is the United States of America.” He reached out to democrats and independents, but also to Republicans as well. He also turned out the most enthusiastic and eager youth vote since JFK in 1960. Those moves allowed him to win over red states that would have been unthinkable only four years ago, such as Indiana, Virginia and Colorado.

Maintained only One or Two Priorities: Drucker felt that the best leaders maintained no more than two priorities at a time. He said he never met a chief executive who could handle more than that at one time. The Obama campaign stayed focused on a very few, core ideas throughout the campaign. Whenever the topic of the Iraqi War came up, for example, he pointed to the 2002 speech he made denouncing the idea of an offensive, non-premeditated war in the Middle East. Another example: once the financial meltdown hit, his stump speech was all about creating jobs and lowering taxes for the middle class.

Obama Showed he Could Hire: Drucker felt that the most effective leaders could hire, fire, and promote people. The one hiring decision a presidential candidate makes is the selection of a running mate. Obama’s choice of Joe Biden proved that he was not afraid to be surrounded by strong personalities (which bodes well for his selection of a cabinet). He showed that same important quality when he sat down with economic heavyweights like Paul Volcker, Warren Buffett and Robert Rubin. McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin was an ill-fated choice which became a constant, living example of Senator McCain’s erratic, shoot-from-the-hip, style of leadership.

A Superior Organization and Ground Game: In Drucker’s world the most effective leaders are organized, able to prioritize and maintain a high level of morale. Obama’s campaign was nearly flawless in its execution. It held together beautifully to the final day—in marked contrast to McCain’s “circular firing squad” organization which developed in the final weeks of the campaign as it became increasingly clear that their candidate would not win. Also, Obama’s campaign often did unprecedented things. For example, Obama’s “50-state strategy” seemed like a fool’s errand early on, but his organization in red states helped him to win several key states that seemed out of reach only a few months earlier. With his huge money advantage, it is not surprising that Obama had a better get-out-the-vote ground game. Obama’steam used the Rove-Bush playbook to beat McCain and the republicans at their own game. Every aspect of the Obama campaign seemed better executed—steadier, less erratic and more consistent with Drucker’s principles of organization, discipline and accountability.

November 5, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Management

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The Right Leader for the Right Time

Last week we ended with a discussion of managing under crisis conditions. That was a favorite topic of Drucker’s. He also observed that “some people are beautifully prepared for the crisis. And hate everything else.”

As the supreme example of a leader who operated incredibly well under the worst of conditions was Winston Churchill. Drucker called Churchill the 20th century’s most successful leader. But even Churchill wasn’t Churchill until his country—and history—called upon him. He explained that for a dozen years, from 1928 through Dunkirk (codenamed “Dynamo,” that’s was when more than 300,000 allied soldiers were successfully evacuated and saved), Churchill played a minor role at best. Drucker suggested he was an onlooker, “almost discredited, because there was no need for a Churchill.”

When chaos and Hitler struck and England was forced to declare war with Germany in September of 1939, Churchill was precisely the right leader at the right time—a decisive, iconic figure on the world stage. And, for the record, the praise was not all one-sided. Winston Churchill reviewed and praised Drucker’s first book, saying ”the amazing thing about Peter F. Drucker was his ability to start our minds along a stimulating line of thought.”

Drucker once declared “Fortunately or unfortunately, the one thing in any organization is the crises. That always comes. That’s when you do depend on the leader.” Drucker felt that the Churchills were a rare breed. “But another group is, quite common,” insisted Drucker. “They are the people who can look at a situation and say: This is not what I was hired to do or what I was expected to do, but this is what the job requires–and then roll up their sleeves and go to work.”

That’s the brand of leader we need in these tough times, when an economic meltdown is bringing down so many of our great companies. Time will tell us which leaders were the most successful in helping their organizations weather the storm. Of course, war is a far graver challenge than even the worst economic collapse, but Drucker knew that certain situations create great leaders: ”To every leader there is a season,” explained Drucker. “Winston Churchill in ordinary, peaceful, normal times would not have been very effective. He needed the challenge. Probably the same is true of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was basically a lazy man,” proclaimed Drucker (who didn’t like FDR, despite his great popularity). I don’t think FDR would have been a good president in the 1920s. His adrenalin wouldn’t have produced,” concluded Drucker.

Drucker’s analysis of our 20th century global leaders gives us much to think about, and raises some obvious questions. If you are a manager—or a manager of managers—do you have a fair-weathered team that will do well when times are good? Or a foul-weathered team whose “adrenaline is likely to produce” when things get rough? Given today’s economic realities, you may be about to find out.

November 3, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Management

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Broken Washroom Doors…or Don’t Jump 36 Floors!

Peter Drucker felt that every organization had its share of dysfunction. But he described it in a very vivid way:

“Every business has its ‘broken washroom doors,’ its misdirections, its policies, procedures and methods that emphasize and reward wrong behavior, penalize or inhibit right behavior.”

He described one very funny example of a dysfunctional organization to me, when he told me how Henry Luce—the founder of Time, Inc. as well as Life, Time & Fortune Magazines—managed his company.

Drucker told me a few of the highlights of Luce’s story: Luce was “a very peculiar man.” He had been raised in China and managed Time, Inc. “by misdirection and by running around people.” Drucker told me Luce could not fire anybody, especially any classmates. (Remember that Drucker’s ideal manager could hire, fire and promote people, and here he was telling me that Luce could not fire anyone).

That was a problem.

That’s because when Luce and Drucker met, about 70 years earlier (Luce apparently loved Drucker’s first book), the chief editor of Fortune Magazine was someone named Mitch Davenport. Drucker described him as “a very fine writer but a hopeless editor, and hopeless for one reason: he did not believe in deadlines. Simply did not believe in them,” he repeated for emphasis. Of course, deadlines are the lifelines of a magazine, whether it be a monthly or weekly. So Luce kept him “but managed around him,” asserted Drucker. He then made some noises that suggested that Luce wanted Drucker to take a management position at Time, Inc.

“And he [Luce] had another problem,” said Drucker. He had a foreign editor at Time who was [allegedly] an ardent admirer of Hitler. And paranoid, by the way, but a classmate [of Luce's], who eventually killed himself by jumping out of the 36th floor!”

Drucker then told me flat out that Luce wanted to hire him: “He wanted me to come to Time and be the foreign editor around that man (I assume he meant the man that admired Hitler). Fortunately, I said said no to all of these things,” said Drucker. ”I wanted to do my own writing.”

Somehow, all of this helped Drucker make the decision to get into consulting, something he would do (and love) for the rest of his life.

The moral of the story? If you are interviewing with a company and sense that they have as much dysfunction as the company Drucker described…run! Even if the company is very successful, as Henry Luce’s Time Inc. certainly was.

If you are currently working for a company with as many “broken washroom doors” as described above, then prepare your resume and quietly make some industry inquiries. The company doesn’t have to have a manager who admires Hitler or a manager who cannot live by deadlines. There are a million other ways a company can be dysfunctional. In fact, if you work—or have worked—for a company that is dysfunctional in some unusual manner, I want to hear about it. So please drop me a comment and tell me about the dysfunction. I am curious by nature, and would love to hear how other organizations harbor, contribute to, or tolerate dysfunction. And who knows? Your story might make it into my next book (with your permission, of course).

October 27, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Inside Publishing

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D-Day

Today is the official release date for Inside Drucker’s Brain. As far as I know, the information gleaned from my full-day interview with Drucker—which forms the centerpiece of the book—is the last major Drucker interview never-before-published, until today.

As I have started doing radio interviews for the book, one of the first questions I usually get from interviewers is this:

Why did you write a book on Peter Drucker? And why is he important now?

The truth is that I have been fascinated with Peter Drucker since the mid-1980s. First a bit of history: In 1992, I edited the first book ever published on GE’s Jack Welch, entitled The New GE: How Jack Welch Revived an American Institution. It had an awful jacket [cover] and was published by one of the smaller business book publishers (Dow Jones-Irwin), so even though the book did well, no one remembers it. Since that book came out I edited five other books on Welch and wrote three of my own. Ever since that first book on Welch, many of the former GE’s best management moves have been credited to Drucker. That always got me wondering about who this man really was. Because Drucker never headed up any large corporation (or any corporation, for that matter), nor was he a professor at say, Harvard or MIT, my curiosity over this man-behind-the-curtain only grew as time went on.

Of course, I had heard of Drucker since getting into the publishing business in the early 1980s. It was common knowledge that he was the best of the best. That was something business editors had taken as a given—like how Babe Ruth was the greatest home-run hitter of all time. But my interest in him only grew to a fever pitch after I started editing and writing books about Welch.

As an example of a Welch strategy that started with Drucker, let’s take [Welch's] most famous management strategy—dubbed #1, #2. That was the theorem that held that unless one of your businesses was either #1 or #2 in its market, then it should either be “fixed, closed, or sold.” Welch explained that the originator of that concept was Peter Drucker. That got me thinking—how many more of Welch’s ideas came from Drucker (interesting aside: I learned far more about that during my interview with Drucker, which is highlighted in the book).

As for how timely Drucker is now, well, I have always believed that when things get bad one needs to get back to the fundamentals. When it comes to management, there was no one more fundamental to the field of management than Peter Drucker. He was the one who said “there is only one valid definition of a business purpose: to create a customer.” That sounds pedestrian now, but it was anything but when he first espoused it in 1954. Whether Drucker used fancy catch phrases as other later authors (e.g. reengineering, execution), he was the first to discuss so many important topics. The chief purpose of Inside Drucker’s Brain is to devote a quick chapter to each of Drucker’s signature ideas (16 in all), including such topics as:

* How to build your organization on strength

* How to incorporate innovation into the fabric of one’s organization

* How to make “life or death decisions”

* How to manage during a crisis

That should give you some insight into what’s in the book. The book acknowledges that Drucker wrote 38 books in all, and is written to provide a succinct summary of the best of the best of his seminal ideas (to order the book, go to the home page and click on “store.” The book comes up first and will take you to Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, 1800ceoread, etc.).

October 16, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Inside Publishing

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Humility—the Most Underrated Leadership Quality

All of the books I have written have been about the topic of leadership in one way or another. Some more directly than others. The Drucker book is all about leadership. Leading others, leading markets, leading companies. One of my earlier books—What the Best CEO’s Know—profiled seven CEOs and seven leadership characteristics they all had in common.

It is clear now that I left one trait out.

Peter Drucker taught me that in one day.

I have learned that humility is one of the most underrated of all leadership qualities. Authors often write of character, integrity, compassion—and all have something to do with humility. However, Webster’s Dictionary defines humility as “the quality or state of being humble; and defines humble as “not proud or haughty; not arrogant or assertive; reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference.”

As the world and economic climate seems to get more complex, so does the importance of humility. Certainly there is much to humble us all in these turbulent times. All one has to do these days is take a look at his 401K to get a little humility, but that’s the least of it. Millions of our fellow citizens face far worse, like foreclosures of their homes and loss of their jobs. We are also at war not with one country, but two. The number of our enemies (such as members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups) has never been higher. In my relatively few years on this planet, I can think of no time of greater uncertainty than the one facing us now. That’s a lot to be humble about.

We have had exceptional leaders who were imbued with great humility. In the political arena, leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman were examples of two leaders who typified it. From humility springs accountability, as evidenced by Truman’s “the buck stop’s here” leadership philosophy.

We have also had great business leaders with great humility. Three that come to mind who were profiled by me in earlier works are Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines), and Andy Grove (Intel). In the case of Intel’s co-founder Andy Grove, he became more humble when his company was almost crushed by the Japanese—forcing Grove and Intel to abandon the company’s key product (memory chips). It’s easier to get humble when you and the company you create face the abyss.

For us non-CEO types, humility is no less important, particularly in the workplace. That’s even more true for those that manage or supervise other people. I have always believed that there is a covenant—an implied contract—that exists between a company and the people they employ. On the employee’s end, he or she must put in a full day’s work, have a positive attitude, and make the kind of contribution that can help the company achieve its goals.

On the employer’s side, handing over a pay check is the least of it. An employer must create a positive work environment, offer opportunities for advancement, and make sure the people they put in positions of power are mature, responsible, competent, and yes, humble. In my 27-odd years working for companies large and small, I have always thrived when working for a humble boss. Conversely, when I have worked for autocratic bosses who suffer from hubris, sooner or later things turned bad. Working for humble bosses has always helped to spark my performance.

The lessons here? Well, you can’t often choose your boss but should you find yourself in that position (between jobs with multiple job offers), select the humble boss, other things being equal. If you are a manager or executive, you can indeed choose your employees, and the same advice applies here.

Keep coming back to this site to learn more about the leadership qualities that are the real difference makers.

October 6, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Management

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Opportunity Favors the Prepared Mind

When we last left off, General Motors and Peter Drucker had parted ways. Drucker wanted desperately to study the inner workings of a large corporation like GM, but he said he could not do it if he was going to be seen as a “company spy.” By letting GM managers and employees know he was writing a book, he reasoned, everyone would know why he was there and would be more open and cooperative.

Six weeks after Drucker returned home—after the situation had fallen apart—he received another call from General Motors. They invited him back to Detroit and told Drucker that they had changed their minds. They would allow Drucker to write a book based on his study of the company. Drucker said that he would “not allow them to censor it except for actual facts.” He spent the next 18 months studying every corner of the large car company, visiting every GM division east of the Rockies.

Meanwhile Alfred Sloan made it clear to Drucker that he was against the idea of bringing him [Drucker] in, but as long as he was there, he was to be completely honest in his assessment of GM’s managers, and him [Sloan] in particular. This emperor was adament: he wanted to be told when he was wearing no clothes. In time Drucker came to regard Sloan as a leader with unbridled character—as well as one of the most effective CEOs of his day—or any day. Sloan taught Drucker many things that stayed with him. For example, Sloan taught Drucker that when all members of a management team quickly come to agreement on one course of action—that course of action is usually wrong! Meaning: management teams must take their time on important decisions, particularly people decisions.

As Drucker told me his personal story (I interviewed him three days before Christmas in 2003), he repeated several riffs again and again. He told me that he “didn’t know anything about business from the inside,” since he never managed anything. He also said that he got into management “totally by accident.” Drucker went so far as to pronounce himself “the world’s worst manager.”

A bit of history: early on, Drucker had written two successful books (including The End of Economic Man, 1939), which is how General Motors top management learned of Drucker in the first place. Had General Motors not called Drucker that day in 1942, Drucker may never have become…well, Drucker! The first business book, Concept of the Corporation (1946), came out as a direct result of his study of GM. Drucker established the field of management as a social discipline, a major accomplishment in post-World War II America.

When I asked Drucker how he was able to accomplish so much if it all came down to “luck” or “accident,” all of a sudden he got deadly serious and shot back with the following:

“Don’t call it accident. Opportunity favors the prepared mind. If opportunity knocks at the door you have to open it. You have to be receptive to it and I was.”

September 26, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Inside Publishing, Management

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Getting the “Ungettable” Interview

Many have asked me how I was able to get Peter Drucker to cooperate with me and grant me a multi-day interview (even though it was later shortened). After all, in the publishing world he was known as someone who not only did not grant interviews to book authors, but also someone who ferociously protected his copyrighted works (meaning he did not easily grant authors permission to quote from his published works). At least, that was the perception of Drucker in literary circles. The reality was something different.

It is true that Drucker did not grant many interviews to books authors. I knew he had cooperated with an Atlantic Monthly editor more than a decade ago (Peter Beatty), but as a rule of thumb, Drucker did not speak with book authors. He once said “one of the secrets of keeping young is not to give interviews but to stick to one’s work—and that’s what I am doing. Sorry, I am not available.” To this day I wonder why he suddenly became available to me, a relatively unknown author. The full story is documented in the beginning of Inside Drucker’s Brain, but I will include a few details and lessons here.

First, never take anything for granted. Just because someone had granted few interviews in the past does not mean that he or she won’t change going forward. Drucker, who had just turned 94 before our full-day interview, had his legacy in mind when he opened his doors to me (literally, and figuratively). Getting that interview with Drucker was critical to putting together an important book, since he had written so many books already (38 in all). In other words, sans new and fresh material, the book would have been far less compelling.

Timing is everything: Who knows? Had I contacted Dr. Drucker only a few months earlier it is likely he would have turned me down. Shortly before I had seen him he had been operated on for colon cancer. By the time he had reached his 94th birthday he had pretty much stopped writing new, original books (some of his works were compilations of earlier chapters and works). Although he had always denied that he was “the inventor of management,” he did nothing to dissuade me from that notion when I mentioned that to him in a letter I wrote to him in the fall of 2003.

Understand ”the urgency of now:” Once Drucker made the offer for me to visit with him and interview him in his home I quickly accepted. My personal philosophy has always been there is not “a moment to lose,” and that was certainly the case here. Aside from Drucker’s age, there are always other unseen factors that might change the calculus. That’s why it always pays to pin down an important opportunity as soon as it presents itself.

Come back Wednesday when I describe how Drucker explained to me how he grabbed an opportunity when it presented itself—one that put him on a new a path and changed his life’s work.

September 22, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Inside Publishing, Management

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How Technology has Revolutionized Publishing

In the last two posts we discussed the downside of technology in publishing. There is of course much more on the positive side of the ledger. Few things have done more to enhance productivity in the book publishing industry than innovations in technology.

It didn’t start with Johannes Gutenberg (the first innovations in publishing took place in China much earlier), but his creation of the printing press and movable type circa 1450 forever transformed an industry (Drucker credits that invention for starting the “Third Information Revolution”). One interesting aside: Drucker delivered a great “history of publishing lesson” during our day together, explaining that the first novel ever published was Don Quixote, around 1600, a book that remains in print to this day (it’s a Penguin Classic).

Let’s flash forward about 400 years to discuss how technology has affected the publishing business in the modern era. The most obvious invention that had the most profound impact was obviously the computer. Bill Gates believed that “there should be a computer on every office deskand in every home.” His prediction certainly came true in the publishing business, but in most every other business as well. Let’s focus in on some applications that have changed the way we do business in publishing.

First of all, before email, the only way for a prospective author to submit a proposal or manuscript was via hard copy through the mail. The unsolicited manuscripts without agents were put in what was commonly referred to as the “slush pile.” Today, at least in business book publishing, almost everything comes to us via email (no more slush piles). This is what makes my job possible. I work for Portfolio, a Penguin imprint, which is based in New York City (where most of the largest publishers reside). But I work out of my home office just outside of Chicago.

Most proposals are sent to New York, but the ones that are deemed most appropriate for me are emailed to me in seconds. If a big thought-leadership book comes to me and I want a diversity of opinions on that particular proposal, I can email it to the entire imprint team in seconds. Of course, this can also be done in other industries, but this technology is tailor made for us in publishing. I can almost not recall the last time I read a hard-copy proposal. I actually can review and read a proposal on-line faster—and digest more— than reading it in a hard-copy format.

It’s not only submissions of proposals that have changed, but most every process as well. Manuscripts are edited and copy-edited online in the Microsoft edit program. They are emailed back to authors and they review and make changes and answer queries in the same program. The technology for typesetters has changed dramatically as well. Now anyone can be a publisher and tens of thousands of books are “self-published” by individuals and companies each year and used for many different purposes. It seems that not a week goes by without people sending us a good number of self-published books in search of an publisher. A good number of these are indeed published, or in these cases, “re-published” (that’s not a real word, I know).

In fact, a decade ago we received a self-published book on day trading (the on-line buying and selling of stocks). That self-published manual went on to become the first day trading book, selling more than $2 million worth of copies (that’s more than 160,000 copies). That book sparked perhaps 50 more by publishers of all shapes and sizes. The company I worked for then went from zero to $5 million in day trading books in a span of 24 months. That is, until NASDAQ came crashing down like a meteor out of control in 2000. But an industry was launched with a single self-piblished ”manual.” Who knows what would have happened if we had not had the wisdom to publish that self-published book?

There are many other cases of technology enabling us to do things better, faster, and cheaper. Come back next week for more on this subject.

September 12, 2008 · Filed Under Book News, Business Books, Druckerisms, Inside Publishing, Management

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