Customer Reviews

Managing Oneself (Harvard Business Review Classics)

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

 

 

Peter F. Drucker, born in 1918, is probably the 20st Century's greatest management thinker. He was Professor at New York University and currently teaches at the Graduate Management School of Claremont University, California. Drucker is the authors of numerous books and award-winning articles. This article was published in the March-April 1999 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Today, knowledge workers outlive organisations and are mobile. The need to manage oneself is therefore creating a revolution in human affairs. Drucker gives advise on the management of ourselves. We need to ask ourselves the following questions: What are my strengths?; How do I perform?; What are my values? The authors provides advise on how to answer these questions> Once these questions are answered we need to find out where we belong and what we should contribute. According to Drucker, "we will have to place ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution." But because we need to work with others we also need to take responsibility for our relationships. This requires us to accept other people as much as individuals as ourselves and take responsibility for communication. The author also identifies that most knowledge workers are not "finished" after 40 years on the job, "they are merely bored". He identifies three ways to develop a second career: (1) start one; (2) develop a parallel career; or (3) be a social entrepreneur. And managing the second half of your life requires you to begin with it before you enter it.

Great article by the Master of Management on how we can manage ourselves. He recognizes the latest trend whereby knowledge workers are outliving organizations which result in them having/creating second careers. He provides advise on where to locate yourself based on your strengths, performance, and values. This article is an exerpt from his 1999-book 'Management Challenges for the 21st Century'. As usual Drucker uses his famous simple US-English writing style. Highly recommended, just like all his articles.

On par with George Leonards "Mastery", this is one of those books that you can set your career too. 50 Pages of high level information on obvious, common sense aspects to career building, that most of us forget, or never focus on.

I couldn't put this one down, and gleamed much wisdom from it. I would almost call this book "Drucker's personal insight on how to manage your life"

Drucker is one of the bests at challenge his readers to a new way of thinking. I know I read this article several times already and will refer to it again.

I highly recommend it.

This is not a book in the true sense, but an article printed in form of a small book. The size should not diminish in any way the quality of the writing. This is a small gem that one has a look at in a time of reflection. If you read it you will learn something from it because it has that ability to stir your mind and discover a fresh view.

In essence the principles of self management are: know your own strength, know how you perform (method of learning and delivery) and personal values. You also have to know where you belong. This seems simple but it is difficult to realise that knowledge in practice.

One other aspect discussed in this book is the question of personal contribution that you bring to the organisation, a favourite topic for Peter Drucker. Following from that, it is interesting to consider one's responsibility for managing the relationship with others.

Finally, I found valuable the consideration for a career in the second life half. Now that I read that it makes sense to me. The discourse is short, sharp and practical. I think it is very useful for people who consider a second career in their life as a planned venture not as a move to better employment opportunities

Overall, great article, but I give it four stars because it is not a book. It should be made clear in the introduction somewhere that it is just that.

I enjoy Drucker's work and writings and usually have no complaints. However, this is a pamphlet, not a book. It is a mere 57 pages and it actually fits in my back pocket. I didn't read the description very well and thought I was getting a great deal -- a Drucker tome for under $10.
This is definitely good, high-quality Drucker -- just in bite size.

This book is a wonderful and quick way to understand how you, and the people around you, learn and receive information. In under 20 minutes, you will gain new insights into how to communicate successfully with others and to be sure you are receiving information in a way that is best for you. This article is a classic.

Any community or organization, any family, village or town choosing one book that would make life a little bit better for every resident, employee, citizen or member should pick this book. It is short, it is instructive without being preachy. Drucker is a bit of a grouch and a bit of a wise granddad. Harvard, being Harvard, doesn't discount this book on amazon. Too bad, because they should. If you read this book and kept it to heart, practiced it in your life and helped others to do the same, you would easily replace Harvard Business School and a good deal of its B.A.. It's so good, I'm surprised they don't charge twice as much so they can protect their overrated institutions even more.

I gave copies to six of my adult children and grandchildren. Everyone was enthused and promised to apply Drucker's advice.

This is a very short read, but packed with valuable insights. Drucker has a way of directly, clearly and concisely communicating important and helpful advice and business wisdom. Probably duplicative of other works of his, but nice to have such a focused piece.

Don't buy this book. Extremely over-priced for minimal amount of information in the book. It is only an article made in book form.