Peter Drucker

"Peter Drucker observed, “Without an action plan, the executive becomes a prisoner of events. And without check-ins to reexamine the plan as events unfold, the executive has no way of knowing…"

""Whenever you see a successful business, tell yourself that it is because one day someone made a courageous decision." Peter Drucker"

"What is the role of the supervisor in a one-on-one? He should facilitate the subordinate’s expression of what’s going on and what’s bothering him. The supervisor is there to learn and to coach. Peter Drucker sums up the supervisor’s job here very nicely: “The good time users among managers do not talk to their subordinates about their problems but they know how to make the subordinates talk about theirs.” How is this done? By applying Grove’s Principle of Didactic Management, “Ask one more question!” When the supervisor thinks the subordinate has said all he wants to about a subject, he should ask another question. He should try to keep the flow of thoughts coming by prompting the subordinate with queries until both feel satisfied that they have gotten to the bottom of a problem. I’d like to suggest some mechanical hints for effective one-on-one meetings. First, both the supervisor and subordinate should have a copy of the outline and both should take notes on it, which serves a number of purposes. I take notes in just about all circumstances, and most often end up never looking at them again. I do it to keep my mind from drifting and also to help me digest the information I hear and see. Since I take notes in outline form, I am forced to categorize the information logically, which helps me to absorb it. Equally important is what “writing it down” symbolizes. Many issues in a one-on-one lead to action required on the part of the subordinate. When he takes a note immediately following the supervisor’s suggestion, the act implies a commitment, like a handshake, that something will be done. The supervisor, also having taken notes, can then follow up at the next one-on-one. A real time-saver is using a “hold” file where both the supervisor and subordinate accumulate important but not altogether urgent issues for discussion at the next meeting. This kind of file applies the production principle of batching and saves time for both involved by minimizing the need for ad hoc contact—like phone calls, drop-in visits, and so on—which constitute the interruptions we considered earlier. The supervisor should also encourage the discussion of heart-to-heart issues during one-on-ones, because this is the perfect forum for getting at subtle and deep work-related problems affecting his subordinate. Is he satisfied with his own performance? Does some frustration or…"

"[Peter] Drucker was . . . an admirer of Marks & Spencer, the giant British retail concern which, while copying some of Sears’ methods, notably in recruiting, training, and developing new executives, was imbued with a variety of objectives, perhaps more diverse than Sears’ productivity and marketing, for example. It had also established “innovation objectives” as Drucker put it, by which “it rapidly built its quality control laboratories into research, design and development centers. It developed designs and fashions. Finally it went out and looked for the right manufacturer.” The result was one of the world’s best programs for private labels. —Isidore Barmash, Macy’s for Sale, 1989"

""Culture eats strategy for breakfast" is a phrase coined by the American author and management consultant Peter Drucker, and roughly means that the culture within a company is much more important than business plans."