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Quick book review: “The Effective Executive”, by Peter F Drucker

“Executives are not paid for doing things they like to do. They are paid for getting the right things done.” — Peter F. Drucker

That quote (from chapter 7) summarizes the philosophy of “The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done” quite well. It’s a book that explores what the job of an executive knowledge worker is — to make the right decisions for the organization being served.

The book is a fairly easy read, spread across seven chapters:

1. Effectiveness Can be Learned — Effective leadership is a skill you learn by understanding what’s expected of you, and focusing on the right things. It’s a differentiating skill that has become increasingly valuable as we’ve moved from an industrial- to a knowledge-based economy.
2. Know Thy Time — Time is a finite resource, and you’re probably wasting more of it then you think. If you want to accomplish great things, you must manage your time wisely. Start by auditing your workday.
3. What Can I Contribute — Your energy will be wasted if you’re not focused on the right contributions. An executive’s salary comes with an expectation of addressing the right organizational opportunities.
4. Making Strength Productive — The key to being effective is to leverage your strengths. Position yourself so that your weaknesses are irrelevant.
5. First Things First — Focus on what’s important now, not in the past. Tackle issues one at a time (multitasking is rarely more productive then concentrated effort.)
6. The Elements of Decision-making — Focus on the important decisions; Identify boundary conditions; Determine what is right before making compromises; Understand what the decision needs to accomplish; Separate strategic implications from one-off situations; Build-in a plan for action and feedback.
7. Effective Decisions — Start with your gut; Don’t base future planning on today’s (or yesterday’s) way of doing things; Disagreement is a good thing (it means people are thinking about the problem. Find out why it’s happening or you won’t see the whole picture.)

In addition to the original (1960’s) text, the edition I have starts with a reprint of Drucker’s “What Makes an Effective Executive”, first published in the June 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review. This introductory piece is actually quite good, and reflects some updating, more clarified thinking on the role of an executive. To paraphrase the introduction, it outlines the behaviors of successful executives as:

• Understanding what needs to be done
• Understanding what’s right for the organization
• Developing plans for getting things done
• Making good decisions
• Communicating
• Focusing on opportunities
• Runing productive meetings
• Focusing on the team/organization, rather than the individual (everyone is responsible, and accountable)

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It provides a very clear opinion on the role of the executive knowledge worker. Sometimes the material feels a little dated (though often it’s amazingly timeless), but the examples add interesting business and political history to the lessons. I don’t think I would have gotten as much out of this book back when I first started my career (where I was focused more on excellence in my craft), but now, the lessons provide a good framework for filtering through all the things I could be focusing on, so that I can select the ones that I should be focused on.

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