Creating Your Future the Peter Drucker Way: A Report by Ethel Salonen
Wednesday, 15 June 2011; 10:00 AM – 1:30 AM, EST
Speaker: Bruce Rosenstein, www.brucerosenstein.com
Worked for USA Today for 21 years as a librarian/researcher until December 2008
Beginning in 1996 he wrote about business and management books for the newspaper’s Money section
Presentation revolved around Bruce’s new book: Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, Published by Berett-Koehler, August 1, 2009. The book applies the principles of Drucker, whom many consider to be the “father of modern management,” to individual self-development, by encouraging the pursuit of a more multidimensional life. It is based on more than 20 years of research into Drucker’s life and thought, including several interviews with him. Click here to learn more about the book.
His website show’s Bruce’s video interview with Peter Drucker on April 11, 2005, 7 months to the day before he died at the age of 95. Some observations from the video:
- Achievement focused and multidimensional life is what you should achieve
- There is still low productivity in knowledge workers but he sees more productivity than ever before.
- We still have an overload of data…still figuring out how to transform this into information.
- Advice to young knowledge workers – go to work..don’t emphasize attending a school such as a MBA program. A 22 year old MBA is a waste. Work for 10-15 years, be successful, and then maybe go for a MBA.
- Teaching will be radically different in 30-50 years
His presentation focused on these major themes that are presented in his workshops:
- How to apply Drucker’s principles for self-development in your personal and professional life
- How to construct a complete, balanced life plan based on Drucker’s principles
- How to create your future through developing your core competencies, and pursuing parallel/second careers
- How to live a more multidimensional life by interacting with diverse people and varied organizations
- How to incorporate lifelong learning and teaching into even the busiest lives
- How to increase your sense of personal meaning and satisfaction through social entrepreneurship, volunteerism, mentorship and servant leadership
Drucker quote, from Management: Revised Edition:
- “The purpose of the work on making the future is not to decide what should be done tomorrow, but what should be done today to have a tomorrow.”
- He also advised to identify and take advantage of “the future that has already happened.” What are the current trends that affect your professional and personal life, and what are the implications for the future? What can you start doing right now to remain relevant in your workplace and in the profession?
Comments from Bruce Rosenstein
- Focus on the future, not the past – stop defending the past
- What can you do to remain relevant in the various worlds you live in?
- Consider second careers in teaching, writing, art and music.
- Build continuous lifelong learning, exploring and teaching.
- Reinvent yourself, people change, different person, needs, abilities and perspectives. Reinvent your life and your career
- Social entrepreneurship – consider choices and changes for the second half of your life – over or under 40
- Create and maintain your total life list. What initiative from this list is first?
- Don’t expect everything to happen at once.
