[From the Orange County Register]
The Drucker Renaissance
Peter Drucker challenged us to leave the world a better place than we found it.
By Ira A. Jackson
10/30/2009
There was a remarkable movement in education, culture and the arts in Europe during the 14th through 16th centuries known as the Renaissance. It was a wide-ranging resurgence of enlightenment among society, which emerged after a period known as the Dark Ages.
Today, we see the risk of another kind of Dark Age. The staggering failure of leadership and management in our institutions in key sectors of our economy from finance to industry to health care to housing has resulted in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. America and the world are begging for leadership, vision and management.
There is no silver bullet that can solve these problems overnight but there is a great thinker who spelled out a philosophy that can provide a path of light out of the darkness. That thinker is the late Peter F. Drucker. As the author of 39 books and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Drucker was one of the most influential business thinkers in history. He was concerned not only with the human side of management, but also with the larger social roles played by both companies and the individuals within them. Drucker called himself a "social ecologist," someone who studies the condition of major institutions in society much like a natural ecologist studies the health of the physical world.
His first rule hails back to the Hippocratic oath: Do no harm. It's simple but this rule is ignored every day by big companies, non-profit organizations and government. He also said that it's possible to do good and do well at the same time. If there has ever been a time when such a thinker is relevant (and needed), it's now.
It seems that the world is in the midst of a Drucker renaissance typified by the worldwide celebrations of Drucker's 100th birthday. Drucker Centennial events will take place in Vienna, Austria where a pantheon of European academic and business leaders will honor Drucker in the city where he was born 100 years ago on November 19, 1909. Our friends in South America are transforming their business expos in São Paulo, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mexico City, Mexico and Milan, Italy, into Drucker Centennial events as well, making our celebration truly global in scope, and involving literally tens of thousands of people. I also recently returned from a series of Drucker Centennial celebrations in China.
The common denominator, the singular language, the unifying method and message for all these celebrations, is found in Drucker's values and teachings. Everywhere I go – from boardrooms to community groups, from governors' offices to classrooms – the challenges we face as a global community call out for a Drucker-like approach to problem solving, effectiveness and performance, ethical and humble leadership, and social responsibility.
Here in Claremont at The Drucker School along with The Drucker Institute, a think tank devoted to spreading Drucker's ideas, we are commemorating his 100th birthday with a series of remarkable events in Los Angeles and in Claremont.
We start Nov. 2, with author Ken Blanchard in Claremont. On Tuesday, we convene the Leadership All-Stars in downtown L.A. On Wednesday, we have Frances Hesselbein, who will speak on "The Crucible Generation: Hope of the Future." She is the chair of the Leader to Leader Institute and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.
Stephen Covey, who will speak on Thursday at the Mark Taper Auditorium at the L.A. Central Library, has been recognized as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans. He has sold more than 20 million books in 38 languages. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was named the No. 1 Most Influential Business Book of the 20th Century by CEO magazine.
On Friday, we will celebrate the recent publication by McGraw-Hill of "The Drucker Difference: What the World's Greatest Management Thinker Means to Today's Business Leaders." The book, which analyzes and extends Drucker's most important ideas in the context of today's turbulent business environment, was written by Drucker School faculty and is based on the course required of all entering Drucker School students.
We cap the week with two extraordinary events. First, on Saturday, Nov. 7, we will have Drucker Centennial Day with Jim Collins, bestselling author of "Built to Last," "Good to Great" and "How the Mighty Fall," giving the keynote address. Finally, the week ends with a Claremont Community Brunch hosted by Doris Drucker, who was married to Peter Drucker for 70 years.
It's clear from the reception around the world that Drucker is resonating now as perhaps never before. At the latest count, there are now 28 Drucker Societies in 16 countries on five continents.
Drucker challenged us to be good stewards, to leave the world a better place than we found it. I ask you to help us be better stewards of our world by being a part of this new renaissance of interest in Peter Drucker's ideas.
Ira A. Jackson is the Dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Copyright The Orange County Register
