Definitely a classic, an avante garde of its time but after 40 years of evolution .......

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	• The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials) Peter F. Drucker Collins Business, 2006 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Definitely a classic, an avante garde of its time but after 40 years of evolution .......

many bright ideas in the book had been further developed, elaborated and marketed.

To me, the author is the topmost management guru ever. His ideas in this 1966 book, say, "First Thing First" (now seemingly to be originated from Stephen Covey, what a shame), time management through task prioritization, systematization of the decision making process, being effective by getting the right things done etc etc simply form the skeleton of contemporary self/business management thoughts. However, I had rated it with four star for two reasons. First, the great concepts put forth by the author were just too good to be put in one single 174 page book. He could elaborate further on any one of them. Second, the examples adopted in the revised version were still those historical cases near the WWI, the WWII and the Vietnamese War era. Some may like that but I find them too remote and aged to relate to.

Afterall, it's still a very good book for any executive (somebody expected to get the right things done, per the author) or executive to be. Recommended, but not on the top ten priority list if you have already read more than five self management/improvement books!

Below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference.

Brilliant men are often strikingly ineffectual; they fail to realize that the brilliant insight is not by itself achievement. They never have learnt that insights become effectiveness only through hard systematic work. pg 1

Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be attainted. pg 2

Every knowledge worker in modern organisation is an executive if, by virtue of his position or knowledge, he is responsible for a contribution that materially affects the capacity of the organization to perform and to obtain results.....In a guerrilla war, every man is an "executive". pg 5-6

.... five practices/habits of the mind that have to be acquired to be an effective executive:-
1. know where their time goes
2. focus on outward contribution
3. build on strengths - their own, of their superiors, colleagues...
4. concentrate on the few major areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results...set priorities...
5. make effective decisions, know that this is above all, a matter of system - of the right steps in the right sequence. pg 23-25

People kept in a room in which they cannot see light and darkness outside rapidly lose all sense of time. Even in total darkness, most people retain their sense of space. But even with the lights on, a few hours in a sealed room make most people incapable of estimating how much time has elapsed. pg 26

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Drucker

IF you only read one management book in your life.
This is it.

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Short, but could be shorter

Overall recommended, mainly for the critical insight this book gives, however, could be shorter in places. Especially when introducing the book Drucker tends to get a little academic. Many insights can be gained from the book, so recommend going through the waffle quickly. It's well worth it for the end result.

Vital tool

This is a fantastic book. It is written in an old-school style that is somewhat hard to get through.....but the messages are very clear. This book totally changes the way you think about your role in an organization - regardless of your rank or profession. It's definitely a book you should read at least twice.

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Truly one of the great classics

One of my favorite authors is Peter F. Drucker. I recently re-read his book, "The Effective Executive â" The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done" (this plays perfectly into my theme of time leadership. Leadership is the working on the right things versus Management which is doing things right.) Effectiveness is more important than efficiency.

According to Peter Drucker, effective executives follow the same eight practices:

They asked, "What needs to be done?"
They asked, "What is right for the enterpise?"
They developed action plans.
They took responsibility for decisions.
They took responsibility for communicating.
They were focused on opportunities rather than problems
They ran productive meetings.
They thought and said "we" rather than âaeIâ.

I particularly liked his view on taking responsibility for decisions.

"A decision has not been made until people know:

The name of the person accountble for carrying it out;
The deadline; the names of the people who will be affected by the decision and therefore have to know about, understand, and approve it â" or at least not be strongly opposed to it; The names of the people who have to be informed of the decision, even if they are not directly affected by it."

"Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be attained."

I could continue regurgitating and typing most of the book; however, I think it is such an excellent book that you should read it yourself.

Because I have been swamped lately, I resonated with one of his comments which was executives' time tend to belong to everybody else. Of course I blog about time management so part of time management is to figure out how to get control of time even though according to Drucker, the time actually belongs to everyone else.

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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