Personal Development, the Peter Drucker way

Thanks to an introduction by Lisa Haneberg, I had the pleasure of discovering Bruce Rosenstein and his book , "Living In More Than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life."

I've been a long-time fan of Peter Drucker ("The Daily Drucker" is always on my bedside table) for his philosophy on business and management.  However, I have a whole new appreciation for Drucker's insights after reading Rosenstein's book.

Core, guiding principles

One thing that really stuck with me was the clarity Drucker developed about principles, purpose, and focus in his life.  Drucker is typically recognized for his thoughts on business efficiency and process, but in this book I discovered how much emphasis he place on the purpose of his life - and the time he set aside for thinking.

In fact, Drucker considered thinking and reflection to be a critical success factor:

"The effective people I know simply discipline themselves to have enough time for thinking."

I found this to be a very engaging book. Rosenstein brings you through a very thought-provoking process by sharing examples of Drucker's thoughts and guidance.  You're brought into the content with questions and assignments to help you put some of the thoughts into action.  For example, you are asked to think about what your unique abilities and core competencies are, develop a "Total Life list" to expand your perspective, develop your teaching and learning skills, and create a plan for yourself so you can put that plan in motion.

One exercise that I found particularly useful was one in which you create a presentation to teach a topic to someone else.  I've found that I learn far more about any topic when I'm "forced" to teach it to others, and that kind of process encourages much deeper analysis of the topic at hand.

Beyond the business

While Peter Drucker is best known for his contributions to business, he felt it was important to make contributions to the world, as summed up in this quote:

"So, if your goal is to make money, I rather pity you," Drucker said.  "The people I have seen who were happy even after being successful are the people who want to leave something behind.  A hospital that's working, a company that's working, whatever, or who are not money-focused but achievement-focused, because that you're never finished with."

It's safe to say that Rosenstein can be proud of the fantastic book he's created to share Drucker with the world.  I highly recommend you read, "Living In More Than One World."  I also believe this book is ideally structured for a "reading group" approach, which would help you really discover the nuances and depth of Drucker's ideas.  If you conduct a book club around this book, I'd love to hear your take-aways.

What Litmus Test Have You Created For Yourself?

I was having a discussion about mission statements, corporate positioning and things of that nature the other day (OK, not the most exciting stuff, I'll grant you…)  But, from this tiring discussion of corporate wordsmithing, I realized just how crucial it is for each of us -- as individuals -- to be conscious of the words we use to describe ourselves. 

Why?  Because the words you use in your claims, aspirations, and defining words can become a sort of 'litmus test' by which others gauge your actions.  If you don't declare yourself, anyone is free to call you whatever they want but you can 'spin' your way out of it.  After all, who are they to label you.

On the other hand, once you label yourself, you've given them a reference point against which to measure your actions.

Google:  Evil or not?

A prime example of this is Google.  For a long time, it seemed everyone loved Google and nobody was suspicious of its near-magical abilities to corral and index information from all over the internet - including the dark corners where no human had ventured in years. 

Google captured private information?  "That's OK, it's just Google - they can search anything.  How cool."

Life was good.

Then, one day, it came to light that Google's corporate credo was "Don't be evil." (see References, below for details).  At that point, some people began to look at their actions differently.  "Wait a minute.  They say they aren't evil… why would they even need to deny they're evil?"

On Bing, there are over 108 million results for 'Google "don't be evil"' and a lot of them are links to people citing examples where they believe Google has done something "evil."

You:  Testable or not?

My point is that once Google declared itself by saying what it was not, they created a benchmark that made it easier for others to analyze and criticize Google, but according to Google's own rules.

Positively or negatively, you can do this to yourself.

• If you declare yourself as "fair" or "just," people will begin to try to catch you doing things that are unfair or unjust.
• If you declare yourself as "open minded," people will begin to try to find examples of when you haven't been

and so on.

Choose your words carefully

My point isn't that we should not declare ourselves - it's that we should be deliberate and careful about the labels we choose to proclaim for ourselves.  Make sure you set standards that you can meet.  Or even better, define yourself in terms of things that are not so "pass / fail."

Another thing to watch out for is creating negative definitions of yourself.  An example?  Unless you're The Beatles or Beck, declaring yourself to be a loser is probably not going to help you.

In short, be positive - in tone, as well as being positive you can "wear the clothes" of the words that define you.

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References:

• Google Investor Relations reference on Google's Code of Conduct
• Wikipedia compilation outlining the origin of the "Don't be evil" credo
• Wired: Google vs. Evil

What Will You Be Known For?

I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger today.  You may recall he is the guy celebrated as a hero when he safely landed a plane in NYC’s Hudson River after having all of his engines fail.

Overall, the article is very inspiring and I enjoyed reading it.  One thing that really struck me, however, was one of  Sully’s quotes in the article:

"We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform at our best," he says, "because we never know what moment in our lives we'll be judged on."

  That is a very poignant comment, isn’t it?  It was also very timely for me, as I’ve been thinking about similar things in my own life lately.  You see, I’ve done a huge variety of things in my career but, as I change roles I sometimes find myself a bit “typecast” based on one person or another’s view of what they believe I’m best at based on their limited experience with me. 

At a certain level, I’m flattered that they think I’m adding value in a particular area, but in other ways I feel short changed because my talents aren’t being fully utilized.  My default behavior is sometimes to just “live with it” though I am making more of a conscious effort to do better “PR” so I don’t get minimized.

OK… enough whining - what are my takeaways from the thinking triggered by Sully’s quote?

• You can’t always pick what other people will value you for an remember you for, so try to do things you can be proud of whenever possible.  That way, no matter what someone else picks to tag you with, it’ll probably be OK.
• Just because you feel like your “highest and greatest” moments aren’t being noticed, doesn’t mean you’re not adding value.
• It takes a lot of work to overcome typecasting, if you can at all.  So ask yourself, “Is it worth it, or can I live with my typecasting?”
• You can honor the past, but you can’t live in it.  If you don’t like the present, work on how you can change things in the future.

Of course, the other side of the coin bears thinking, too:  Are there people I’m typecasting in the same way?  How would I even recognize it if I were? Hmm…

A few Podcasts for “On The Go” Folks

I’m beginning to travel a bit more again (the summer was a lot slower) and looking for good things to listen to en route.  Lately, that means podcasts.

If you’re on the hunt for some good podcasts, here are a few (all free) that stand out for me.

	The Wall Street Journal This Morning (non-iTunes link) This is an entertaining, well-produced daily rundown of news highlights from the Wall Street Journal.  There are hard-hitting news stories, gadget updates, and a lot of unusual stories covered, and the hosts of the show have great chemistry, which makes this a fun listen.  It’s about 40 minutes long, with very limited commercial interruption.
	Cranky Geeks (non-iTunes link) Hosted by John C. Dvorak with a collection of randomly selected others, this is a panel discussion of the week’s tech news.  It’s fun to listen to, particularly if you’re into gadgets or involved in the tech industry.  I’ve linked the audio-only version, but there are video versions available (I am usually driving when I listen so I forego the video).
	How Stuff Works (non-iTunes link) This is a series of in-depth, but conversational, discussions of lots of interesting topics.  These are great for the curious mind – you can find out useful things (like how to delay the onset of physical aging) and just entertaining things (like the best place to be during a zombie attack).
	The Bugle (non-iTunes link) This is a highly irreverent look at the news, featuring people like John Oliver (the British guy on The Daily Show).  It’s very much in the spirit of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on the Comedy Channel in the US, so if you like those shows, you’ll probably like The Bugle.

I’m about to board a plane, so that’s all I can write up for now.  If you find this useful, let me know and I will share other podcast finds with you in the future. Happy listening!

Introspection – Powerful Stuff

In my last post, I mentioned I’d been doing a lot of introspective thinking lately but what I didn’t mention is that I’ve had help with that.  My friends at Whakate sent me an advance copy of their Introspection Handbook and I have been putting it to good use.

The book (published as a PDF) has an accompanying workbook.  The two artifacts work together to guide you through a process that takes you through various aspects of your life experiences, attitudes, and what not.

You start with the ever-popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to get a better feel for how you’re wired (Whakate has an online version of this test to get you going).  There are also some in-depth materials about your type – very helpful whether you’ve done the MBTI before, or not. 

As you go through the book, you are encouraged to analyze your thoughts around different scenarios to help you figure out what’s working and what’s not in each area.  They may be a little tough to see on the diagram at right  but the areas are:

Personality Assertiveness Values Script

Influence Goals Journal

As you can see, “You” are at the center and this book is about helping you understand yourself better and getting more deliberate about how you live your life and influence the world.  As my wife often says, “You need to teach people how they should treat you.”  This book will help you in that journey.

I must say, the results I’m getting are better than I expected.  I am also finding some things I don’t really like about how I’ve done things in the past, and am working to improve myself so I get better at them in the future.  Not a bad outcome from a book, eh?

If you’ve been avoiding that objective look in the mirror or you want to spend more time analyzing how you’ve gotten where you are, I highly recommend this book.

By the way, it helps to set aside some “quality time” and put yourself in the right frame of mind to get the most out of this book.  When I first read it, the book didn’t really resonate with me as much.  However, I revisited it following a disappointing setback and found it to be just what I needed.