The Dilbert Principle

Now for something on the lighter side. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has been making fun of organizational policies and politics for over 15 years. His cartoon strip regularly makes fun of the organizational fads we are familiar with. In this book, The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle's-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions Adams expounds on his "Dilbert Principle." The Dilbert Principle is a theory Adams suggests as a replacement for the famous Peter Principle.

The Peter Principle states, "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle)

The Dilbert Principle states, "that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management." Thereby skipping the need to ever have worked a job they were competent at.

Whether you agree with Adam's satirical view of the corporate world or not, you will find the objects of his ridicule are based on the reality he has seen and hears about in the corporate world.

Besides being entertaining, The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle's-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions provides some instructional value for leaders. It helps us see the world through the eyes of those we work with. If we take the time to examine the exaggerated spin Adams puts on corporate life, we realize the absurdity of the situations he describes in this book.

However, if we back up a few steps to the less exaggerated, less obvious real life situations these scenarios are based on, we might find that we engage in the same or very similar behavior in our own organizational life. Adams claims we regularly receives e-mail from people all over the world who swear he must have intimate knowledge of their organization because of his accurate descriptions of what's going on there.

Read it.

Enjoy it.

But reflect on how this book might be describing the very situations existing in your own organization.


And as you would hope, this book is full of cartoons to compliment and illustrate the principles being discussed.

The Fifth Discipline

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization by Peter Senge is built on systems thinking, the application of formal systems theory. Formal systems theory became popular in the biological sciences in the 1950s. The basic premise is that all things operate in a system and are never stand alone objects. In addition, all systems are composed of sub-system and are part of super-systems which operate by the rules of systems theory. Applying the assumptions and rules of formal systems theory involves systems thinking.

Along with systems thinking, Senge suggests the following disciplines or areas of the learning organization: personal mastery, mental models, building shared values, and team learning. Systems thinking is the "fifth discipline" and, thus, the name of the book.

Some gems from The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization include:

"When placed in the same system, people, however different, tend to produce similar results."

"Today's problems come from yesterday's 'solutions.'"

"Virtually all natural systems, from ecosystems to animals to organizations, have intrinsically optimal rates of growth."

"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes."

"Reality is made up of circles but we see straight lines."

"I would suggest that the fundamental 'information problem' faced by managers is not too little information but too much information. What we most need are ways to know what it important and what is not important."

"Only mediocre people are always at their best."

"The greatest unexplored territory in the world is the space between our ears. Seriously, I am certain that learning organizations will find ways to nurture and focus the capabilities within us all that today we call 'extraordinary'."

"Leader's worth is measured by their contribution to other's mental models."

"People do not focus on the long term because they have to, but because they want to."

"The committed person doesn't play by the 'rules of the game.' He is responsible for the game. If the rules of the game stand in the way of achieving the vision, he will find ways to change the rules. A group of people truly committed to a common vision is an awesome force. They can accomplish the seemingly impossible."

This book includes excellent examples of models of systems. The ideas you can get from reviewing the different representations of problems model with systems thinking is worth the price of the book.

Top Dog

Top Dog: A Different Kind of Book About Becoming an Excellent Leader by J. David Pincus and J. Nicholas DeBonis is about communication. They propose that CEO should be changed to CCO which stands for Chief Communication Officer so important is the role of communication by the head of the company.

Their book is a mixture of nonfiction and fiction. They share facts and findings from studies and interviews, offer recommendations and insights all with a matter of fact style. To illustrate many of their points, the fictional tale of CEO Arlen Burch Royster is woven throughout the book. Arlen encounters many of the common communication dilemmas experienced by CEOs today.

The book opens with Arlen Royster gathering his troops to face a financial situation uncovered by forensic auditors. Millions of dollars have been mismanaged, perhaps illegally and the situation must be handled before answers ae required by the company board, stockholders, and society in general.

Situations of this magnitude have materialized dozens of times. Think of Tylenol in the 1980s, Exxon in the 1990s, or British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. All major catastrophes requiring management and communication. Some handled well, some not so well.

Top Dog: A Different Kind of Book About Becoming an Excellent Leader really is two books in one. I find myself reading the novel part separately, skipping from section to section in the book. Then I find myself reviewing the factual parts looking for the leadership gems.

Such as:

"Employees want managers who share information with them openly during good and bad times."

"Leadership = Relationship-Building = Communication"

A formula for CEO Communication: The C-C-O-S Model

Consistency -- meaning what you say and saying what you mean all the time. This is the principal determinate of your credibility.

Compassion -- showing concern for and understanding others' emotional, as well as pragmatic needs. And you have to do it in a way that's believably demonstrated.

Organization -- creating an appropriate message, merging the message into the organization's overall communication plan, and correlating that plan with other manager's communication activities.

Selectivity -- deploying communication to maximize its impact on the organization and its people, while guarding against usurping or interfering with other managers' communication roles and relationships with employees, customers, and others.

Nuts!

Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success tells the story of the creation and development of Southwest Airlines and CEO Herb Kelleher. The remarkable story of Southwest starts with a diagram on a cocktail napkin. The triangle has as it's points Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. And thus began a company trying to break into the big leagues as the lowest price, by far, competitor. But their greatest contribution for the greater good may be to open up air travel to the masses.

"What Southwest has done is create democracy in the airline business." Roy Spence, President of advertising agency GSD&M.

The airline began on June 18, 1971 with 6 roundtrips between Dallas and San Antonio and 12 between Dallas and Houston International.

Some Leadership principles and quotes gleaned from Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success:

"The warrior mentality, the very fight to survive is truly what created our culture."

"We treated our job like it was our own business."

"Owners think differently from nonowners because ownership is a state of mind."

"A vision must be so strong that it can outweigh the egos of managers that might want to take off in a different direction."

"Fun is about attitude, so Southwest hires for attitude and trains for skill."

"We'll train you on whatever it is you have to do, but the one thing Southwest cannot change in people is inherent attitudes."

"Southwest's people go out of their way to make sure employees have access to the information they need."

"Adaptiveness is an individual's or a company's capacity to change when forces in the environment threaten the accomplishment of it's goals."

"People will automatically assume ownership for protecting the right to be engaged in work that gives them a sense of meaning and significance. Why? Because there's a tremendous amount of spiritual, emotional and psychic gratification that comes from meaningful work."

"People who are curious listen more attentively, ask more questions, and display a genuine interest in what others know."

"People learn more easily and retain information longer when the lesson is housed in a story, illustration, or metaphor."

"Kelleher and Barrett believe that culture is one of the most precious things a company has, so you must work harder at it than anything else."

"Celebrate everything."

"When you're having fun at work, it doesn't feel like work at all; it's better than tolerable, it's enjoyable."

"Leadership is getting people to want to do what you want them to do because they share your purpose, vision, and values."

By the way, the book is called "Nuts!" because Southwest was the first airline to serve only peanuts instead of full course meals in an effort to keep costs low.

Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership

This book is not for the timid. Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership is an academic review of the theory, research, and managerial applications from more than 7,500 references in academic research literature. It's written in an easy to understand style. However, there are 37 chapters and 1182 pages of this easy to read style. Your best bet is to select a particular topic of leadership that appeals to you and read about it first.

This book is organized into eight sections. The leadership literature is covered as follows:
1. Introduction to Concepts and Theories of Leadership
2. Personal Attributes of Leaders
3. Power and Legitimacy
4. The Transactional Exchange
5. Leadership and Management
6. Situational Moderators
7. Diverse Groups
8. Improving Leadership and Leadership Research

As Bass and Stogdill organize and discuss research findings, they include a plethora of in text citations, figures and tables. These references can assist the reader who wants to investigate the original sources for themselves.

Investigating some of the older theories of leadership can be fascinating. For instance, in the first half of the 1900s (1904-1947) one of the primary theories of leadership was trait theory. It was believed that leaders possessed certain characteristics. Numerous studies were conducted during this time period to analyze the correlations between leadership and the traits of the leaders such as:

age,
height,
weight,
physique,
health,
energy,
athletic prowess,
fluency of speech,
talkativeness,
tone of voice,
intelligence,
scholarship,
knowledge,
judgment and decision,
originality,
adaptability,
introversion-extroversion,
humor,
excitability,
popularity,
prestige,
social skills,
and many, many more.

Each chapter of Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership includes a chapter summary and conclusion. The reader will find it beneficial to read all the chapter summaries and conclusions first. Chapters of further interest can be identified in this manner while allowing for exposure to all the major findings of leadership research over the last century.

Even reading just the first 58 pages would be worth the time of going to the library to check out a copy. This introduction to the concepts and theories of leadership would provide a skeleton upon which to hang the muscle of what you are currently reading about leadership. The better you understand the history of thinking about leadership, the better you can interpret the present and speculate about the future.

The Seven Laws of Teaching

Today let's see what we can learning from the education field. John Milton Gregory worked for 13 years to establish the foundation of the University of Illinois upon its conception in 1868. He was by all rights, an educational leader during his time. In 1884, he published The Seven Laws of Teaching.

Recognized as a timeless masterpiece, Gregory's book has been used as a staple to train 1000s of educators. In some way, all great leaders engage in the work of teaching. So the principles in this book have value for the leader.

The seven laws are to seven factors in teaching:
1. Two personal factors -- a teacher and a learner,
2. Two mental factors -- a common language of communication and a lesson to be communicated, and
3. Three functional processes -- acts of the teacher, acts of the learner, and a final act to test the result of the educational process.

The seven laws then as they are stated in The Seven Laws of Teaching. are:

1. A teacher must be the one who knows the lesson to be taught.

2. A learner is one who pays attention to the lesson.

3. The language used must be familiar to both the teacher and the learner.

4. The lesson must be explainable in terms of what the learner already knows.

5. A teacher must excite the learner and engage the learner's mind to grasp the desired truth.

6. A learner must think into one's own understanding the new truth.

7. The test of the teaching is the application of the new truth.

Gregory identifies some practices necessary to the teaching process.

1. The teacher must know the subject being taught. (p. 28)
2. The learner must be able to link the new truth to the greater body of truth and establish necessary relationships in order to understand it. (p. 30)
3. The learner must pay attention to the material to be learned. (p. 37)
4. The two chief hindrances to attention are apathy and distraction. (and he wrote this over 125 years ago! Some things never change, they only escalate. Some would say today we have more distractions and more apathy!) (p. 48)
5. Children are often compelled by their limited vocabulary to make incorrect word choices. (p. 57)
6. No teaching was ever more instructive than the parables of Jesus. (p. 61)

These are just a few of the gems found in this book. There are a total of 177 rules, principles and concepts included in this book. One hundred and twenty eight pages of educational leadership at your finger tips.

Enjoy it! I did.

Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations

J. Daniel Couger's book, Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations describes the problem solving method I have found most helpful. The Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Model was revised and enhanced by Isaksen and Treffinger to produce the model.

This model contains six basic steps:

1. Mess Finding -- identifying which group of problems you intend to address.

2. Data Finding -- collecting the facts about these problems to make sure you correctly understand and can accurately identify the problems. A "mess" indicates you are dealing with a number of interconnected problems.

3. Problem Finding -- accurately describing the problems in the mess. Once you have identified them, you can select the one or ones you want to work to solve.

4. Idea Finding -- creating alternatives and possibilities for solving each problem. This includes the traditional brainstorming activities we engage in to generate a number of possible solutions.

5. Solution Finding -- selecting the alternative which seems to be "best." Any number of methods can be used to arrive at this selection. The important thing is to select one.

6. Acceptance Finding -- determining the acceptability of the solution. Before implementing any solution, the wise problem solver checks to see how the solution will be received. Much like a politician will ask colleagues if they find a particular piece of legislature acceptable before sending it forward for a full vote. Solutions can still be tweeked prior to implementation if changes are found that increase the probability the solution will be successful.

Another suggestion I found extremely helpful, was to include divergent and convergent techniques in each step of the process. The last half of Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations presents specific divergent and convergent techniques which can be applied to each step.

The Appendix includes descriptions of 22 creativity techniques, many with which I was previously unfamiliar. Test your own creative process IQ. How many of these have you heard of?

Analogies/Metaphors
Attribute Association
Boundary Examination
Brainstorming
Brainwriting
Bug List
Crawford Blue Slip
Decomposable Matrices
Disjointed Incrementalism
Force Field Analysis
Goal/Wish
Interrogatories (5Ws/H)
Left-Right Brain Alternatives
Lotus Blossom
Manipulative Verbs
Morphological Forced Connections
Nominal Group
Peaceful Setting
Problem Reversal
Progressive Abstraction
Wildest Idea
Wishful Thinking

Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences

Decision and management sciences are usually considered to be the realm of the quantitative. Formulas and algorithms. Mathematical and logic models. So it's a bit of a rarity to find the topic of creative thinking covered in a book from experts in this discipline. James Evans is such an expert. And his book, Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences is that rarity.

He starts by defining creativity as "the ability to discover new relationships, to look at subjects from new perspectives, and to form new combinations of ideas, products, colors, textures, words, and so on. By this definition, existing quantitative models will be of little assistance. They are great for optimizing solutions to problems, but not so great for finding creative solutions.

Besides the many excellent examples and practice exercises, Evans includes a review of some of the more academically popular decision making and problem solving techniques. In the midst of this review, I came across the concept of "mess-finding" which has revolutionized my own personal problem solving.

In this model of problem solving, the first step is NOT to identify the problem, but to identify the mess. A mess, according to Russell Ackoff, can be defined "as a system of external conditions that produces dissatisfaction." Alternatively, a mess can be conceptualized as a system of problems. Or to put it simply, a mess is a group of intertwined problems. Imagine a plate of spaghetti where each individual noodle represents a problem. They are mixed together and it's difficult to identify the individual "problems" easily.

In Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences, Evans offers suggestions for improving, not only your problem solving skills, but also your problem solving characteristics. He suggests four creative problem solving characteristics:

1. Problem sensitivity -- the ability to test assumptions. We all have preconceived assumptions which are in need of constant removal and re-formulation. Your problem sensitivity is a measure of your ability to set aside your assumption while identifying the actual problem and while working to find a solution.

2. Fluency -- the ability to produce large quantities of ideas. They don't have to all be good ideas. This requires the ability to temporarily suspend judgment on the quality of ideas in order to increase the quantity.

3. Flexibility -- the ability to apply a variety of problem solving techniques to a particular problem. The old saying is "if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Well if you have a preferred technique for solving problems, you tend to see every problem through that technique. If you love using analogies, then you are always trying to "fit" the current situation into whatever analogy you can think of.

4. Originality -- the ability to generate more novel ideas. Generating a large number of ideas usually means some original ideas will pop up. Tell yourself that you are creative. Then generate as many possible ideas as you can.

The Art of Problem Solving

In The Art of Problem Solving, Russell Ackoff suggests problem solving is as much art as it is science. His art of problem solving involves 6 components:

1. creativity
2. constraints
3. Objectives
4. Controllable Variables
5. Uncontrollable Variables
6. Relations

The problem itself contains most of these components. The decision maker or problem solver who possesses the creativity, and sometimes the constraints. The controllable and uncontrollable variables associated with the problem. And the possible outcomes.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part explains The Art. Ackoff includes 35 stories in the first part which he refers to as "Ackoff's Fables." Each story is intended to illustrate the author is trying to make. Each comes with it's own accompanying "moral" of the story, just like the more familiar Aesop's Fables. Unlike Aesop's Fables, Ackoff's Fables are often true stories. Because after all, truth is stranger, or at least more illustrative than fiction.

These fables are similar to the story of the factory worker who went home each night pushing a wheelbarrow full of trash. Company guards became suspicious. They thoroughly inspected the trash several times, but could find nothing of value in it. Much later it was discovered the worker had been stealing wheelbarrows. Ackoff's fables are equally enlightening.

The book is worth the price just to get access to the stories. By showing the problem solver how creativity and the removal of constraints have been applied in other situations, Ackoff provides the reader with "lenses" for viewing the problems they encounter. Or at the very least, the reader is challenged to believe there are new and exciting ways to address the problems they are dealing with.

The second part of The Art of Problem Solving: Accompanied by Ackoff's Fables discusses Applications of the principles discussed in the first part. Here Ackoff presents six real-life problems he has been involved in helping to solve. They come complete with all the "messiness" of real life which is marginalized in the fables he presents in the first half of the book.

His stories come from across several industries, including: transportation, manufacturing, government, advertising, and food and beverage.

Ackoff concludes with a chapter on monitoring the problem solution to make sure:
(1) the problem stays solved, and
(2) any new problems created by the solution are being addressed.

It seems a forgone conclusion that the solution to any existing problem will create new and exciting problems and opportunities!

Are Your Lights On?

Are Your Lights On? by Donald Gause and Gerald Weinberg is a about problem finding. Making sure you identify the correct problem BEFORE you attempt to solve it.

Many consider problem finding to be a more critical skill than problem solving. Throughout the formative education years; primary, secondary and post-secondary school, we are taught how to solve problems using previously taught methodologies. The assumption is that we will be able to correctly identify the problem type and apply the correct methods. In mathematics, this can be relatively easy. For example, when you see 56 + 72 your training tells you how to proceed to find an answer of 128. When you see (3 + 4) * (1 + 5), again, your training tells you how to proceed to find an answer of 42.

What we were not trained to do is ask "Is 56 + 72 the correct problem to solve?" or "Why is (3 + 4) * (1 + 5) a correct representation of the problem at hand?"

Gause and Weinberg attempt to expand our thinking by asking us to examine the problems we encounter and how we frame them.

Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is is a series of stories used to illustrate the points the authors are trying to make.

The title of the book was derived from the solution to a problem discussed in the book. The story goes like this. A brand new auto tunnel is opened in Switzerland. A warning sign is posted at the beginning to the tunnel. The sign instructs: "WARNING: TUNNEL AHEAD PLEASE TURN YOUR HEADLIGHTS ON." So far, all is well.

About 1/4 mile past the end of the tunnel is the world's most scenic rest stop. Hundreds of tourist stop to enjoy the view each day. And every day 10 or more of the 100s return to their cars to find a dead battery. They left their car lights on and the battery is dead. What to do?

The first question we have to ask is "Whose problem is it?" Possible problem owners are listed as:
the drivers
the passengers (if any)
the chief engineer of the tunnel
the police
the mayor of the nearest town
the automobile clubs
none of the above
all of the above

The engineers of the tunnel felt it was their duty to try to remedy the situation. They crafted several well meaning messages to post at the end of the tunnel:

IF IT IS DAYLIGHT, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE ON,
TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS.

IF IT IS DARK, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE OFF,
TURN YOUR LIGHTS ON.

IF IT IS DAYLIGHT, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE OFF,
LEAVE YOUR LIGHTS OFF.

IF IT IS DARK, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE ON,
LEAVE YOUR LIGHTS ON.

To get to a final solution, the engineers shifted problem ownership to drivers. With that in mind, a simple question prompt was posted at the end of the tunnel:

ARE YOUR LIGHTS ON?

The 20 stories in this book are intended to illustrate and highlight six questions about problem finding:

1. What is a problem?
2. What is the problem?
3. What is the problem really?
4. Whose problem is it?
5. Where does the problem come from?
6. Do we really want to solve the problem?

Mindmapping

Mindmapping is a graphical technique to help you solve problems. Mindmapping intends to find the creative ideas you already have stored away in your brain, consciously and sub-consciously, and bring them out for you see. And for you to show everyone else, if you like.

Joyce Wycoff, in her book, Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving wants to help you tap your creativity.

Your brain is a storehouse of information. Some believe it's capacity is greater than all the libraries in the world combined. It might not seem like it when you are trying to remember where you put your keys or the name of the new neighbor you met yesterday. But it's there, and you need to be able to get at it.

It's generally accepted the brain is made up of two halves. The left half handles language, logic, sequences, processes, details, and judgments. The right half handles images, rhythm, music, imagination, color, patterns and emotions. According to Wycoff, creativity comes from exceptional interaction of both halves of our brain. Mindmapping intends to facilitate that exceptional interaction.

She defines creativity as "seeing things that everyone around us sees while making connections that no one else has made."

Here is the basic idea behind mindmapping:

1. You need a piece of paper and something to write with.
2. In the center of the paper, draw a box and write the focus of your thinking. One or two words that describe the problem or situation you are thinking about.
3. Focus on thinking about the topic. As thoughts come to mind quickly write down the key words. Draw lines showing how the key words connect to the focus topic and to each other.
4. Let the ideas and thoughts flow from the central focus and from additional key words. Draw lines to show the connections as they appear in your mind.

According to the author, two things happen when you write your ideas down:
1. Your mind is free to go on and think about other ideas, and
2. Associations are made with the written ideas.

Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving goes on to discuss the application of mindmapping to:


Creative Writing
Business Writing
Project Management
Managing Meetings
Presentations
Listening and Note Taking
Personal Development


Remember, there are no wrong mind maps!

Creative Problem Solving

Creative Problem Solving by Donald Noone is a handy (4" x 6", 120 page) guide to liberate your problem solving capabilities. As part of Barron's Business Success Guide Series it provides practical "how-to" ideas to enhance your current problem solving skills.

Based on the premise the problem solver is often the biggest obstacle to solving the problem, Noone begins by addressing the actions and the attitudes of the problem solver. He suggests the problem solver "Fall in love with problems" (p. 14). This can be accomplished by repeating these beliefs:

"I love problems."
"Problems spell opportunities."
"Problems are the prelude to progress."
"Problems allow the expression of my power."
"Problems tell me what I have to do."
"Problems precede improvement."
"Problems are fun."

The second attitude to cultivate is "different is just different, and not wrong." When we judge something as wrong, we immediately discount it.

What if the idea of using a forklift to stack cars on top of each other was immediately dismissed as ridiculous? There might not be parking garages today.

Once the correct attitudes have been adopted, it's time to apply the problem solving skills.

Creative Problem Solving suggests the first and most important skill is to correctly define the problem. If incorrectly identify the problem, or identify the wrong problem, you will solve the wrong problem. And what's the point in that?

Other skills identified and discussed in the book include:

Asking Questions -- because statements result in limitations.
Mind Mapping -- because a picture is worth a 1000 words.
Association and Fishhooking -- because inspiration is everywhere.
Using Analogies -- because comparison leads to discovery.
Amplifying Everything -- because the unfamiliar forces creativity.

Noone ends his book with 18 reminders, or rules, for creative problem solving. Some highlights from this list include:

1. Accept stark reality -- bad things happen.
2. Welcome problems as opportunities.
4. Don't be a "but-head."
10. Asking empowering questions -- often and many.
17. When something does not work, try something else; persist until you achieve intended results.

The Effective Executive

Peter Drucker is considered by many to be the father of modern business management. He went into General Motors to study the management workings of this mega corporation way before it was fashionable.

He has written numerous books and journal articles over the course of his distinguished academic career. Most of them are enjoyable and thought-provoking reading even for the non-academic. If you are interested in managing your business or your life better, Drucker has some helpful solutions.

Written in the 1966, The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done was written to help the individual make a more valuable contribution to his or her organization. While organizational settings have changed in the half century since this book was written, the principles are still very applicable.

Drucker's first principle is that effectiveness can and must be learned. He defines effectiveness as "getting the right things done." As opposed doing things in the right way (efficiency). Or doing things quickly (expediency). You can do the wrong thing and still do it efficiently and expediently. This book focuses on doing the right things.

The second principle is that effective executives have to know how to manage their time. He suggests this is a three-step process:
(1) recording what you are currently doing with your time;
(2) managing what you will do with your time in the future; and
(3) consolidating time to make large chunks available for important tasks.

The third principle suggested by Drucker in The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done relates to contribution. Figuring out what your contribution is to the organization by asking such questions as:

"What can I and no on else do which, if done really well, would make a real difference to this company?"

Then buried deep in the book, on page 100, is the secret. Drucker states, "If there is any one "secret" of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time." The first rule of concentration is to get rid of the things in your life that have ceased to be productive.

Regarding decision making, Drucker points out in The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done, that effective executives do not make a great many decisions, they concentrate on the important ones.


So if your job is to be effective, and it probably is, then the news is good: Effectiveness can and must be learned. And this book can help!