MY FAVOURITES FROM DRUCKER-3

Pillars of Success-Early Schooling

Drucker considered formal schooling a compulsory encounter with dullness and boredom .

He had however two exceptional teachers in elementary schools .In different ways each of the two spinster instructors had a profound effect on him

A pedagogical martinet introduced him to the elementary skills of writing ,and insisted that he converted skills into performance

The other , an affable and lovable woman ,ignored the traditional emphasis on routine skills and the rigors of scholastic practice and through sheer force of personality inspired him in the direction of imaginative and conceptual thought

The taskmaster instructor indelibly impressed on him the need for constant drill and high performance standards in writing while the charismatic teacher appealed to the perceptive and imaginative side of his nature.

Pillars of Success-Outside Influences

Intellectual curiosity stimulated by his highly cultured parents

Equally important in nourishing his insatiable intellectual appetite was his exposure to his family’s network of friends ,which included some of the leading professionals and intellectual luminaries of Vienna

Pillars of Success-Outside Influences

These contacts developed his practical intelligence by giving him the opportunity to see how professionals made their knowledge accountable .

Whether they were musicians , doctors ,lawyers ,politicians , artists ,economists or experts in other fields , they concentrated on performance and results .

Pillars of Success-Outside Influences

In his dialogues with his mentors the youthful Drucker also learned lessons impossible to absorb from conventional textbooks . For example , he gathered the rudiments of courtesy and civility , shaped a foundation of charm and confidence ,and developed a penetrating wit and a robust sense of humour

Pillars of Success-Outside Influences

During his teenage years ,he was invited to several of the Viennese intellectual salons ,many of which were informal lyceums .Treating him as a young adult ,the conductors of these sessions made no distinction between senior and junior guests .Contribution and respect for learning were the only demands at these meetings .Papers on social problems and contemporary issues were presented, discussed and critiqued .From these improvised seminars Drucker learned problem identification and the fundamentals of basic research ,but most important of all , he “learned how to learn”

Study of Humanities

Using countless examples and anecdotes from the past into his writings and lectures ,Drucker characteristically wove ,wherever possible ,the strands of humanities into the fabric of business process .

The real source of his academic learning was self-study . In endorsing a stress on the liberal arts Drucker contended

that management was liberal because it dealt with conceptual and theoretical knowledge and an art because it focused on results and the human relation skills needed to achieve them .

His interest in classics and humanities contributed to his wide range of interests and the holistic thinking that laid the foundation for his future scholarship in management .

Study of Humanities

Drucker was particularly attracted to authors who were able to convert their research into scholarly configurations .Among the figures in the social sciences who influenced him directly in holistic thinking were Bernard de Jouvenal , Soren Kierkegaard , George Simmel , Henry Adams , Thornstein Veblen ,and Walter Bagehot.

Bibliography

Shaping the Managerial Mind (John E Flaherty ) The Effective Executive The Practice of Management Management Challenges for the 21st century The Daily Drucker Drucker on Asia The New Realities The Ecological Vision The End of Economic Man The Age of Discontinuity Managing in Turbulent Times

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SUBHASHIS DAS GUPTA