Peter Ferdinand Drucker (November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation. In 1971, he obtained the Clarke Chair of Social Sciences and Administration at the Graduate School of Management at the University of Claremont. With 39 books published over seven decades and many books written about him since his death, Drucker was, by common consent, the founding father of modern management studies. In 1937, Peter Drucker moved to the United States. Here, he first worked as freelance writer in US, writing for several newspapers such as Harper and the Washington Post. Peter Drucker, the most influential management writer of the modern era, has died age 95. Drucker died November 11, 2005, in (Claremont California). Checkout the collection of Classic Peter Drucker Quotes for Entrepreneurs.
Peter Drucker Quotes
- The purpose of a business is to create a customer.
- Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
- The new information technology… internet and email… have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.
- My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.
- Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.
- People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.
- There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
- We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.
- Management by objective works – if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don’t.
- No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.
- The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.
- Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.
- The relevant question is not simply what shall we do tomorrow, but rather what shall we do today in order to get ready for tomorrow.
- Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.
- The key to greatness is to look for people’s potential and spend time developing it.
- The only skill that will be important in the 21st century is the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will become obsolete over time.
- The only real difference between one organization and another is the performance of its people.
- If you can’t measure it, you can’t change it.
- The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.
- Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.
- There is nothing worse than doing the wrong thing well.
- The bеѕt wау tо predict уоur future іѕ tо create it.
- Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.
- Strategy is a commodity, execution is an art.
- The problem in my life and other people’s lives is not the absence of knowing what to do but the absence of doing it.
- Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.
- The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.
- If you have more than five goals, you have none.
- The purpose of information is not knowledge. It is being able to take the right action.
- As a manager you’re paid to be uncomfortable. If you’re comfortable, it’s a sure sign you’re doing things wrong.
- In todays economy, the most important resource is no longer labor, capital or land; it is knowledge.
- There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.
- So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work.
- Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.
- If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.
- Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.
- “Adequacy is the enemy of excellence.”
- “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.”
- “Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.”
- “We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.”
- “Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level.”
- “Leadership is defined by results not attributes.”
- “What gets measured gets managed.”
- “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”
- “Knowledge is power. In post-capitalism, power comes from transmitting information to make it productive, not hiding it.
- “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.”
- “The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it’s selling.”
- “Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values. Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person – hardworking and competent but otherwise mediocre – into an outstanding performer.”
- “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.”
- “Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.”
- “Since we live in an age of innovation, a practical education must prepare a man for work that does not yet exist and cannot yet be clearly defined.”
- Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
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- Cultivate a deep understanding of yourself – not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution. Because only when you operate from strengths can you achieve true excellence.
- There is nothing worse than doing the wrong thing well.
- Our job in life is to make a positive difference, not prove we’re right.
- The key to greatness is to look for people’s potential and spend time developing it.
- Leadership is an achievement of trust.
- The fruit of your work grows on other people’s trees
- The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths so strong that it makes the system’s weaknesses irrelevant.
- Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.
- Focus on opportunities, not problems.
- “Business has only two basic functions – marketing and innovation.”
- “Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.”
- The real achiever do one thing at a time.”
- “People learn the most when teaching others.”
- “The race for Quality has no finish line – so technically, it’s more like a death march. Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”
- “Plans are worthless, but planning is invaluable.”
- “Mission defines strategy, and strategy defines structure.”
- “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.
- “The critical question is not “How can I achieve?” but “What can I contribute?””
- “Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.”
- “You cannot build performance on weaknesses. You can build only on strengths.”
- “The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.”
