Peter f druc

Title of a book

The nts\deep

US ARMY CHART

IntroductionThe Effective Executive was written as a sort

of research report, summarizing the characteristics of the effective executives that he saw over the period of about two decades.  

The thought arose from the many recruitments of the federal govt. for wartime agencies.

An executive is those knowledge workers, individual professionals, and managers who are expected by virtue of their position or their knowledge to make decisions in the normal course of their work that have significant impact on the performance and results of the whole.

Effectiveness is a set of practices; a habit that can be learned.

EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVESExecutives tend to have high levels of

IntelligenceImaginationKnowledge

But often lackEffectiveness

Intelligence, Imagination, and Knowledge are essential

But only Effectiveness converts them to Results

An Executive’s job is to be effective .

Main aspectsHe concludes that effectiveness is not inherent to a

person but is the result of learning to do five things:  

Manage time Determine what he can contribute. Making use of subordinates' strengths Establish Priorities

Concentrate on a few major areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results

And making decisions well.  The book is a discussion of these with cogent

examples.

The first principle is that the effective executive (by which he means not only a CEO but anyone who is responsible for making decisions that in some way affect the organization) must manage his time.  

The purpose of the executive is to note outside trends and adapt his company to them, but unavoidably he will spend most of his time on internal matters.  .

Maxims• No one really knows where their time goes

(especially if they think they do) unless they write it down

Identifying time wastersEliminate activities that do not produce any

results whatsoever (i.e. time-wasters)

"The next question is 'Which of the activities on my time log could not be done by somebody else just as well, if not better?'"

Eliminate the time that you waste yourself.  (This is best done by asking someone else)

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all”.

Fixing time-wastersLook for the "recurrent crisis".  "A crisis that recurs a second time is a crisis

that must not occur again. ...  A recurrent crisis should always have been foreseen.

 It can therefore either be prevented or reduced to a routine which clerks can manage.  

The definition of 'routine' is that it makes unskilled people without judgment capable of doing what it took a near-genius to do before;  for a routine puts down in systematic, step-by-step form what a very able man learned in surmounting yesterday's crisis.

A well managed plant is boring;  an exciting plant is poorly managed.

Time waste often results from overstaffingAnother common time waster is mal-

organization. Its symptom is an excess of meetingsPeople can either meet or work, but they

cannot do both at the same timeMeetings should never be allowed to become

the main demand on an executive’s timeAnother major time waster is malfunction

in information. information that is not updated fast enough or in the wrong form.

Consolidate timeWe need a fairly large quantum to think

about things, and if you need to deal with people, it takes a reasonably large quantum for them to think that they had meaningful interaction with you.

Make sure you aren't disturbed during your time.

Set deadlines based on the judgement of available discretionary time.

ContributionTo ask, 'What can I contribute?' is to look for

the unused potential in the job.  And what is considered excellent

performance in a good many positions is often but a pale shadow of the job's full potential of contribution."  (pp. 53-4)

Merely playing the job of CEO, expecting wield power and authority are ego boosters, not effectiveness.

Contribution• To produce contribution, need to have • communication:  generally the subordinate

should tell the superior what he thinks his contribution should be (otherwise he will probably mis-hear it), although the superior may correct it.

"The focus on contribution leads to communications sideways and thereby makes teamwork possible."

Development:  of both self and others.  But either way people grow to what is demanded of them.

BUILD ON STRENGTHSPromote people based on what they can do

Make staffing decisions to maximize strengths, not minimize weaknesses

weaknesses are irrelevant unless they inhibit exercising your strengths

BUILD ON STRENGTHS

Four rules for staffing based on strengthsDon’t make jobs impossibleDo make jobs demanding and bigKnow employee’s strengthsKnow that to get strengths, one must put up

with weaknessesLogical consequence - It is the duty of the

executive to remove ruthlessly anyone who consistently fails to perform with high distinction.

BUILD ON STRENGTHS

Effective executive must also maximize his/her own strengths

Must ask oneself, “What are the things that I seem to be able to do with relative ease, while they come rather hard to other people?”

PRIORITIZE

Sloughing off YesterdayContinuously ask, “If we did not already do

this, would we go into it now.”Priorities and Posteriorities

Priorities - Decide what you will doPosteriorities - Decide what you will not do

Rules for identifying prioritiesPick the future instead of the pastFocus on opportunity rather than problemsChoose your own direction, rather than

climb on the bandwagonAim high for something that will make a

difference rather than for something that is safe and easy to do

First Things FirstDo one thing at a timeExecutives ,not pressure should make the decisionsWe often abandon that which we postponeAchievement does not depend on ability, it depends

on the courage to go after the opportunity.Set your priorities by opportunities presented not

by the likelihood of quick success.It is just as risky to do something small and new as

it is to do something big and newConcentration - the courage to impose decisions on

time and eventsFocus on the completion of the one task now and let

the situation decide what is next

Decision MakingThe specific executive taskEffective executives make effective decisionsEffective executives concentrate on the important

decisionsThe decision is strategic or genericThe decision is based on abstractions at the highest level

of conceptual understandingThe decision leads to real, effective simple action The decision is based on a few important variablesThe decision is sound and makes a real impact

Elements of the DecisionIs the problem the symptom or the diseaseBound the decision

Most difficult stepExercise in judgementEven wrong decisions should fill boundary conditions

What is right verses what is acceptablepostpone the compromise until the end

Built in Actionmost time consumingwho needs to know, what action, by who

Feedback

Effective DecisionsDecision is a judgementBalance between “Almost right” and “Probably

Wrong”Right decisions grow out of the clash and conflict of

divergent opinionsRight decisions grow on the consideration of

competing alternativesEvents are not facts, so we must have a criterion of

relevance

People always start with an opinion

Most look for facts that already fit the conclusions that they have reached.

Traditional measurements are often not the right measurements

Look for different ways to measure success.

The right decision demands adequate disagreement.

Disagreements is the birth of alternatives

Disagreement is needed to stimulate the imagination

Effective DecisionsNot going to be pleasantNot going to be popular Not going to be easyDecision making takes as much courage as it

does judgementThe cry of the coward “Let’s make another study”Decisions on the operating level are adaptations

and require no real knowledge.

EFFECTIVE DECISIONS

The effective executive does NOT start with the facts, but with opinions

The effective executive encourages differences of opinions

Don’t foster consensus, but dissension

“Executives are not paidfor doing things they like to do.

They are paid for gettingthe right things done -

most of all in their specific task,

the making of effective decisions.”

Effectiveness Must be LearnedRecord your timeFocus on your contributionMove forward based on your strengthsDo first things firstMake effective decisions