Customer Reviews

Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the Foreword, Frances Hesselbein suggests the key to understanding how to understand Peter Drucker's approach to life, indeed to understanding how any of us can improve the quality of life, is to recognize the importance of diversifying the nature and extent of daily existence, to sharpen a sense of curiosity while remaining open to new ideas, and to learn as much as possible from as many different sources as possible. As Drucker's own life suggests, she observes, "It is to be introspective when needed, but to remember that the most important things happen in the outside world." There is an implicit obligation to share time, talents, and expertise with others, "to leave something of value behind to others." She notes that in this book, Bruce Rosenstein provides many suggestions and strategies to achieve that worthy objective but also reminds us that we must be fully and continuously "aware of pitfalls in our diversification, including finding the time to do everything we want to do. Answers will emerge, but not because we have taken shortcuts." This book is an endorsement of reflection but also a call to action, and that can also be said of every book that Drucker wrote.

According to Rosenstein, "The organizing theme of this book is creating and living a `total life' that includes your work, friends, family, professional colleagues, and affiliation groups. In this way, you can consider all of the elements of your life together and think of how each affects the others, now and in the future." This indicates to me that Rosenstein sees his role as being that of a travel agent to help each reader plan the itinerary and then, once the reader has embarked upon a journey of personal discovery, serve as her or his guide. That said, I do not want to suggest that Peter Drucker is not essential to the success of the journey. On the contrary, his life can be both a guide and an inspiration. Seven moths to the day before he died at the age of ninety-five (on April 11, 2005), he told Rosenstein, "The - I wouldn't say happy people but satisfied, contented - people I knew were people that lived in more than one world. Those single-minded people - you meet them most in politics - in the end are very unhappy people."

Throughout his narrative, Rosenstein addresses issues such as these:

How to design a "total life"
How to develop core competencies
How to "create" a desired future
How to exercise generosity in relationships with others
How to sustain lifelong teaching and learning

In the final chapter, "Conclusions," Rosenstein urges his reader to consider initiating a new beginning in his or her life. He provides a brief recap that gives an overview of what a multi-dimensional life might consist of. He also reviews some of the main areas and key concepts that were covered in the preceding chapters. I especially appreciate Rosenstein's skillful use of several reader-friendly devices throughout his narrative, notably the "Total Life List," and "Question Summaries, and "Recap and Next Steps" sections at the end of each chapter. They reflect and amplify each of the themes covered. I also appreciate the periodic insertion of exercises to be completed. They comprise what serves as a sequential and comprehensive self-audit while reading the book.

Frankly, I envy the extensive contact Rosenstein had with Peter Drucker for more than ten years. He had been studying him and his work for more than 20 years, conducted in-person interviews of him between 2001 and 2005, and obviously learned a great deal of value from extended conversations with someone who hated the term "business guru" and preferred to identify himself as a "bystander" or "student." Throughout his life, Drucker was involved in all manner of professional activities (e.g. classroom teacher, author, lecturer, consultant) even as he actively pursued a number of personal interests such as studying Japanese art and culture, philosophy, and religion as well as attending Los Angeles Dodgers games and concerts performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

There is much of substantial value to be learned from Drucker's life and work, and from Rosenstein's explanation of how Drucker's wisdom can inspire and transform the lives of those who are both willing and able to consider themselves, the work they do, and their relationships with others "in a new light." I agree with Bruce Rosenstein: "We all will live in a better world if enough people act on the principles described in this book. We'll see benefits as friends, family members, and colleagues if people make the most of their talents, learn as much as possible and share that knowledge, and extend their generosity in many different settings...Be patient, but persistent. Good luck on your continued journey!" Peter Drucker could not have said it better.

In "Living in more than one world," author Bruce Rosenstein has summarized the essence of Peter Drucker's wisdom as it relates to individuals and knowledge workers in particular. Drucker had extraordinary insights about topics such as developing parallel and second careers, understanding one's core competencies and values, continuous learning, etc. Anyone will benefit by taking time to read, reflect and discuss the ideas in this book. Rosenstein has made this easy to do by presenting Drucker's ideas in a manner and format that is extremely approachable and pragmatic. The chapters are easy to read, there are summaries and questions for self reflection.

Individuals who are not big readers and have little time or energy to read Drucker's books will enjoy and benefit from reading this book. Others like myself who have read a considerable amount of Drucker's work will also benefit from revisiting the essence of Drucker and, I suspect, most will discover a few nuggets of wisdom they had not run across before. I did.

I have benefitted from reading "Living in more than one world." After reflecting on what I learned, I may eliminate some of my current activities that have not been working well and try new ones that are more in line with my core competencies. Anytime a book has such a life changing and practical effect on me, I inevitably end up recommending it to others.

Highly recommended.

This new book by Bruce Rosenstein (who was on staff at USA Today for over 20 years) is a perfect introduction to the life, work, and philosophy of Peter Drucker. Drucker was a teacher, consultant, and management expert, but his visionary ideas are applicable to nearly any creative pursuit. Rosenstein has done a great job of encapsulating the teachings of the remarkable Drucker, and he has done so in a lively, very readable style that you will find immediately accessible. [Full disclosure: I have known Bruce for over 30 years, but I aver that my association with him does not in any way lessen or prejudice my enthusiasm for this book.]

This book is a must read for anyone who's serious about developing personally and professionally and building a satisfying, multifaceted life and career. The book distills Drucker's wisdom on personal growth and self management and gives a game plan for enriching and transforming your life. Rosenstein guides you through creating and building a "total life list" of contacts, interests, goals, affiliations and activities to use as aids in self discovery and self development. There are chapters on developing your core competencies, creating your future, exercising your generosity and other key topics. Sidebars on Drucker's life and work, recaps of main points, "ask yourself" questions and suggested activities for building your total life list add to the book's usefulness and appeal. Rosenstein's style is straightforward and direct and his firsthand knowledge of the subject shows. The writing is compelling and insightful and gives much food for thought. I highly recommend this book.

It is odd to write the words 'self-help' and Peter Drucker in the same sentence, yet that is what author Bruce Rosenstein has done -- and done very, very well. I need to add a bit of a disclaimer at the beginning. I love Peter Drucker and the work he gave the world during his life. I have had more than one client roll their eyes when I mentioned yet another statement or throught from Drucker's lifetime of work, yet it has never stopped me from citing it. I can still remember how it felt to sit in an audience and listen to Mr. Drucker talk about the importance of emotional intelligence at a conference when he was 93 years old. He was born to teach and he never stopped. And now Bruce Rosenstein has captured Drucker's thoughts in an easy to read book and with lots of examples of how to apply Drucker's wisdom to your own personal development -- or ways to help yourself be your best self. Thank you for sculpting Mr. Drucker's work in such a unique and useful way. You have given us a good example of exactly what Drucker meant by "living in more than one world" -- and doing it well.
Andrea Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
[...]

Love the book. It is very well written and divided into sections that build on each other. I liked the side bar questions of reflection in the book. The advice given is something tangible that can be used the same day. I met Bruce at his book presentation a Claremont Graduate University during the 100 year celebration of Peter Drucker. Bruce is a true gentleman that has a great passion for Drucker's teaching. Bruce did a lot research for this book and it very evident because he truly captures the essence of Peter Drucker. Thank you Bruce for your excellent work!

I was very impressed with how author Bruce Rosenstein was able to distill and translate the vast body of work that Peter Drucker had compiled over his storied and long career, but what most impressed me was how this is a book for everyone; a book that, no matter what one does for a living, will give the reader fresh perspectives on how to live a fuller, more well-balanced life. A VERY readable book that is not overly long (something we can all appreciate) and presented in a clear way that is deceptively simple, yet deals with complex, profound issues. Highly recommended.

Bruce Rosenstein has done a superb job in Living in More Than One World of laying out pearls of wisdom from Peter Drucker's philosophy of self-management and self-transformation. I read the book in one sitting and afterward grabbed a notebook and jotted down my own slate of activities and priorities, challenges to time management, pivotal moments, core competencies, and other bits of information. These are needed to see one's own life within the compelling framework Drucker--as distilled by Rosenstein--offers for a more reflective, yet more social, and more generous, full, satisfying and fulfilling life. There are hints at the role spirituality might play in this journey, but that is not the emphasis of the book. Broadening one's life experience, volunteerism, giving back, and managing one's time and talents are themes writ large in the book. I found one of the most exciting and insightful exercises Rosenstein encouraged was to look back and find what moments in my life were pivotal experiences.

This is certainly a stimulating book and will be especially helpful for those looking to make a fundamental shift in their life, such as a change in social interactions, work environment, type of work or life goals in general. I highly recommend it.

Peter Drucker's thought is new to me, but reading Bruce Rosenstein's summary of it gave me a pretty good idea of why so many people consider Drucker to be a guru worth listening to. This slim book---I read it in one day (though not in one sitting)---assembles key insights from a huge range of Drucker's writings over many decades, and it provides an overview of the best material that probably can't be found elsewhere in so easily-digestible a form. And it's not just "business" or "management" advice (which I usually associate with Drucker's name); Rosenstein is mainly concerned to distill Drucker's insights on how best to live your own personal life. In an economy of forced layoffs and mid-career changes, this is unusually important and timely, since the way we live our lives outside the office has much to do with how well we deal with big events like layoffs--or retirements or, for that matter, "mid-life" adjustments of any major kind. This book gives you many concrete suggestions, many checklists of things to think about, and much advice on just where, exactly, to start in making or dealing with either big life changes or life improvements to get you through the "second half" of your time on earth. Highly recommended!