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Peter Drucker: Making Strength Productive as an Effective Executive
In his chapter entitled "Making Strength Productive," the management guru tackles the myth of the so-called 'Renaissance Man' who can do everything well. Such people do not exist, he states. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. The secret to success is finding out how to use one's strengths to one's advantage, and downplaying weaknesses. Focus on your strengths, rather than working on overcoming your weaknesses. This is true on an individual as well as an organizational level. In other words, if you are McDonald's, focus on making burgers, not on healthy food. Very strong people often have very great weaknesses, and sometimes these must be overlooked, or compensated for, so that their strengths shine.
"What can a man [or woman] do" should be the primary focus of the organization (Drucker 2006: 75). One of the great advantages of larger organizations is that they can hide the weaknesses of workers to a greater...
An accountant who is not a 'people person' might struggle in setting up his own business and generating new clients, but within a large organization, he can focus on what he does well instead. Business leaders must have the knowledge of how to allocate human resources more effectively. Their ability to read people well and use employees' specific intelligences vs. demand they be 'Renaissance Men' and focus on what they cannot do is the key to success (Drucker 2006: 76).
Impersonal bureaucracies and their focus on functionality rather than 'likeable' people enable things to get done and minimize favoritism, in Drucker's view. Structuring jobs to fit personalities likewise leads to role confusion and dilution of responsibilities to the point where members of the hierarchy are unsure what their responsibilities may be. If it seems impossible to fill the position, redesign the job, rather than seek out a genius. The reputed 'genius' may not exist. This is not to say that jobs…
References
Creative tension. (2009). The Economist. Retrieved:
http://www.economist.com/node/14460051
Drucker, Peter F. (2006). The effective executive. Harperbusiness Essentials.
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76). As automation increasingly assumes the more mundane and routine aspects of work of all types, Drucker was visionary in his assessment of how decisions would be made in the years to come. "In the future," said Drucker, "it was possible that all employment would be managerial in nature, and we would then have progressed from a society of labor to a society of management" (Witzel, p. 76). The
Indeed, effective problem solving in these circumstances often requires high levels of creative collaboration (Richards, 2007a, p. 34). In recognition of this reality, employers consistently name the ability to work together creatively as a primary and crucial skill -- even though many organizations have created cultures that undercut individual and collective creativity. In order to solve this problem there is a need of a comprehensive review of the facility management
Pharmaceutical industries have to operate in an environment that is highly competitive and subject to a wide variety of internal and external constraints. In recent times, there has been an increasing trend to reduce the cost of operation while competing with other companies that manufacture products that treat similar afflictions and ailments. The complexities in drug research and development and regulations have created an industry that is subject to intense
Strategic Framework in BP-Deepwater horizon accident One of the most eminent names in the oil and gas industry is British Petroleum, considered as the largest provider of oil and gas to its customers for transportation, energy for heating and light and retail services for petrochemical products globally. The financial and operational picture of the company's performance is illustrated in table1 below. Performance at a glance for 2010 Facts and figures Sales and other operating
Therefore, corporations have had to change their viewpoints and start looking at the long-term consequences of their behavior, as well as looking at the bottom line. Businesses also have to be concerned because consumers have also become aware of environmental concerns, and many consumers are demanding earth-friendly products and have shown a willingness to pay more money to competitors who observe environmentally-friendly practices. Interestingly enough, this demand has given rise