36 Quotes & Sayings By Peter Drucker

Peter Drucker is widely considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. He is also the most cited management writer of modern times, with over 160,000 citations in professional journals alone. He contributed to the development of strategic planning by writing The Practice of Management, which was first published in 1954 and remains one of the most popular management texts. He also contributed to the development of organizational design by editing The Effective Executive, which was first published in 1962 and remains one of the most widely used texts on organizational design Read more

Drucker was born in Vienna, Austria, on September 8, 1909. His parents were Jewish; his father had received his medical degree from the University of Vienna and then emigrated to Switzerland, where he worked as a successful physician for many years before moving to Vienna. His mother's family came from Prague.

Drucker was educated at schools in Switzerland and attended university briefly before taking a job as an apprentice photographer with the magazine Photo-Dienst.

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People often overestimate what they can accomplish in one year. But they greatly underestimate what they could accomplish in five years. Peter Drucker
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The only way to predict the future is to create it Peter Drucker
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The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said. Peter Drucker
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One should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. It takes far more energy and work to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence. Peter Drucker
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Whenever you see a successful business someone once made a courageous decision. Peter Drucker
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Along this tree From root to crown Ideas flow up And vetoes down. Peter Drucker
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Profitability is the sovereign criterion of the enterprise. Peter Drucker
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Wherever you see a successful business someone once made a courageous decision. Peter Drucker
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Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done. Peter Drucker
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The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. Peter Drucker
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The purpose of a business is to create a customer. Peter Drucker
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Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed. Peter Drucker
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Business, that's easily defined - it's other people's money. Peter Drucker
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The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said. Peter Drucker
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The new information technology... Internet and e-mail... have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications. Peter Drucker
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The computer is a moron. Peter Drucker
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Few companies that installed computers to reduce the employment of clerks have realized their expectations... They now need more, and more expensive clerks even though they call them 'operators' or 'programmers.' Peter Drucker
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Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. Peter Drucker
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A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge. Peter Drucker
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Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you've got. Peter Drucker
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Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the 'naturals', the ones who somehow know how to teach. Peter Drucker
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My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions. Peter Drucker
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Never mind your happiness do your duty. Peter Drucker
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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. Peter Drucker
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Management by objective works - if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don't. Peter Drucker
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Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement. Peter Drucker
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Suppliers and especially manufacturers have market power because they have information about a product or a service that the customer does not and cannot have, and does not need if he can trust the brand. This explains the profitability of brands. Peter Drucker
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Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes. Peter Drucker
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Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information. Peter Drucker
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Management is doing things right leadership is doing the right things. Peter Drucker
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Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked leadership is defined by results not attributes. Peter Drucker
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Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level. Peter Drucker
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When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course. Peter Drucker
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Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window. Peter Drucker
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The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different. Peter Drucker