Peter Drucker on effectiveness
Posted by Greg Graham · 
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More on being effective in 2014 — sterling advice from Peter Drucker, the consultant’s consultant, courtesy of our friends at Priority Management.
The following seems to be a summary of Drucker’s business classic “The Effective Executive”, first published in 1996 and still in print. You can find out more at Peter Drucker bio @ Wikipedia
THE FIVE PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVENESS by Dr. Peter Drucker
All that effective people have in common is the ability to get the right things done. The effective people I have seen differ widely in their temperaments and abilities, in what they do and how they do it, in their personalities, their knowledge, their interests — in fact, in almost everything that distinguishes human beings. But all effective people I’ve known perform only necessary tasks and eliminate unnecessary ones. Five practices have to be acquired to be effective
- Work systematically… Effective people know where their time goes. They work systematically at managing the little of their time that can be brought under control.
- Outward contributions… Effective people focus on outward contributions.
- Build on strengths… Effective people build on strengths — theirs and others. They do not build on weaknesses.
- Stay within priorities… Effective people concentrate on superior performance where superior performance will produce outstanding results. They force themselves to stay within priorities.
- Make effective decisions… Effective people make effective decisions. They know that this is a system — the right steps in the right sequence. They know that to make decisions fast is to make the wrong decisions.
Whenever I have found a person who – no matter how great in intelligence, industry, imagination, or knowledge — fails to observe these practices, I have also found a person deficient in effectiveness.
The Priority Management monthly newletter can be seen here: Priority Management monthly e-newsletter
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The consultancy was founded in 2003 by Greg Graham, a seasoned strategic marketing professional. Greg is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), a Fellow of the Ontario Institute of Management Consultants (FCMC), and an Accredited Small Business Consultant (ASMEC) in the United States. He holds MBA/BEE degrees plus a Certificate in Strategic Management.
Prior to founding Market Metrics, Greg's 21 years of corporate experience encompassed tech start-ups through Fortune 500 companies. He is an expert in subscription-based business models (including SaaS). Greg frequently performs consulting engagements on behalf of the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).
