You may thirst for cutting-edge knowledge from the young guns of management thinking. But don’t be fooled. There is little in management that is really new.

In your career, you will face many issues, and you can bet that Peter Drucker (1909-2005), the father of modern management, has already thought about it and offered some brilliant advice. I consider him to be the Leonardo de Vinci of management. His work will be better understood and more widely read 400 years from now. Just as we have appreciated Leonardo Da Vinci’s work more centuries after his death.

As already mentioned, Elizabeth Haas Edersheim, a well-known journalist and author, has summarized his life’s work, all 32 books, in the masterpiece called “The Definitive Drucker.”

To help you, I have extracted examples of his wisdom that are relevant to you right now.

Focus on your noncustomers (desirable potential customers)

Which of your noncustomers should you be doing business with? Only Drucker could coin a phrase, ‘noncustomers,’ yet it gets right to the heart of the fundamental issue. Every private sector government and not-for-profit organization is missing customers it should be servicing. With government and not-for-profit sectors where members of the public who should receive a service, are either unaware or too proud to ask for help. By constantly focusing on non-customers, a sales team can find these customers and look after their needs.

Do not give new staff new assignments

When an organization wants a new system implemented, it is very tempting to hire someone who has expertise as a consultant or as a permanent appointment. Drucker pointed out that they do not stand a chance, as staff who are concerned about the change will do their utmost to destabilize the project. He referred to these jobs as ‘widow makers’, jobs where the incumbent did not have a chance to succeed.

Remember this advice when you are headhunted by a recruiter. You may just be walking towards the guillotine.

Insist that your organization always appoints an in-house person to run projects. Someone who is well respected in the organization, who has a pile of IOUs which they can use when favors are required. Staff will support the new initiative more readily when it is led by such an appointee.

Embrace abandonment

This concept is so important I have written about it in a separate section.

Collaborate with other organizations—even your competitors

“Your back room is someone’s front room.” In other words, if other organizations can do a job better job then your organization should contract that work out to them. Drucker saw collaboration as the key to operating in this world, even with an organization that you previously saw as a competitor.

He saw business as a “Lego” construction, where you could bolt together services provided either in-house or externally. He was referring to the fact that it was now easier than ever before to amalgamate different services from different entities and market the end product seamlessly to the customer as one entity. Businesses should be full of activities (pieces of the business) performed by third parties.

Have three test sites when piloting a project

Drucker pointed out that one test site was never enough. If you test on a large entity within the organization, the smaller ones will say the positive result is not relevant, and vice versa.

Drucker’s seven sources for innovation

This advice is a bit heavy but is timeless. If you are ever involved in developing new products/services, read this section in “The Definitive Drucker” again and again.

  • The unexpected– the unexpected success, the unexpected failures, unexpected outside events. These are signs that the future is happening now.
  • The incongruity– the incompatibility between reality as it actually is and reality as it is assumed to be. Look for differences between what customers want and what the market thinks they want.
  • Innovation based on process need– where everyone in the organization knows that there is a missing link that needs fixing.
  • Changes in industry or market structure –where a new player comes into the market and starts changing it with an ever-increasing market share, e.g., Google.
  • Changes in demographics– Drucker points out that the aging population demographics is a highly dependable innovation opportunity.
  • Changes in perception, mood, and meaning by customers– often lead to unexpected success or failure.
  • New knowledge, both scientific and non-scientific– this is not the most reliable source of successful innovations because there is a large time lag.

This is an extract from the toolkit (whitepaper + E-Templates) ,Winning Leadership: A Model on Leadership For The Millennial Manager by David Parmenter