Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions. Peter F. Drucker

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      Peter F. Drucker

      Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions

      Praise for Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions

      “As a marketer and a business leader I have found guidance in Drucker's simple wisdom. My favorite: ‘Without a customer, there is no business.’ This book offers timeless insights, an anecdote for those dizzied by the rapidly evolving business landscape.”

– Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer, GE

      “A timeless guide for students at the Yale School of Management – elegant in its simplicity yet powerful in focus.”

– General Thomas Kolditz, Professor and Director, Leadership Development Program, Yale School of Management

      “Nobody, not even Socrates, has ever asked better questions than Peter Drucker. All the personality, all the wisdom is here to make your work dramatically more effective. There's nothing better. It's like having Peter at your side.”

– Bob Buford, Author, Halftime and Finishing Well, and Founding Chairman, Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management

      “In my work with chief executives, managers, and students, I see a shared desire to create a life of meaning, purpose and passion. This book shares essential lessons to do so for all generations. Memorable, powerful, and accessible, this is another classic in the making!”

– Sanyin Siang, Executive Director, Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE), Duke UniversityPETER DRUCKER'S FIVE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONSENDURING WISDOM FOR TODAY'S LEADERSPETER F. DRUCKERWITH FRANCES HESSELBEIN, JOAN SNYDER KUHL,BERNARD BANKS, LAUREN MAILLIAN BIAS, JUANABORDAS, ADAM BRAUN, JIM COLLINS, CAROLINEGHOSN, KELLY GOLDSMITH, MARSHALL GOLDSMITH,NADIRA HIRA, PHILIP KOTLER, JIM KOUZES, RAGHUKRISHNAMOORTHY, KASS LAZEROW, MIKE LAZEROW,LUKE OWINGS, MICHAEL RADPARVAR, V. KASTURIRANGAN, AND JUDITH RODINEDITED BY PETER ECONOMY

      Cover image: Silver Sparkle © iStock.com/Nastco

      Cover design: Wiley

      Copyright © 2015 by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. All rights reserved.

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

      Published simultaneously in Canada.

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      ISBN 978-1-118-97959-4 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-97961-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-97960-0 (ebk)

      Foreword

      In 2000, Fred Andrews wrote in The New York Times of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management – now The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute: “With little money, the Institute is a pool of management wisdom for all who choose to dip their cup.” Today, we celebrate the Institute's 25th anniversary. Our work has not deviated far from our work in 1990, or 2000: we continue to publish the most contemporary writing on leadership and management; we provide relevant leadership resources, advice and inspiration; we introduce cross-sector partnerships that provide opportunities for learning and growth; and we support student-leaders and professionals around the globe.

      I'm encouraged by the “Bright Future” message of leaders across the sectors who are using The Five Questions– who are reaching into their organization and out to their customers and community, reaffirming their values, and reexamining their mission.

      Since we first published The Five Questions, I've met many “fellow travelers” – working professionals, high-level executives, cadets, faculty, students – who tell us that the inspiration and leadership resources we offer, rooted in the leadership work of Peter F. Drucker, has allowed them to embody more fully our To Serve Is To Live leadership philosophy, as well as share our mission-focused, values-based leadership model with others in their wider community. These leaders have realized that simple questions are sometimes the hardest to answer. Peter Drucker's questions are profound, and answering them requires us to make stark and honest self-assessments.

      If Peter were with you and your organization today, we believe he would ask the same five questions he developed when our journey of self-assessment began with him:1

      1. What is our mission?

      2. Who is our customer?

      3. What does the customer value?

      4. What are our results?

      5. What is our plan?

      Complex and compelling – these questions are essential and relevant. They can be applied to any organization today. This book is designed for organizational, strategic self-assessment, not for program assessment or for an individual performance review. It starts with the fundamental question, “What is our mission?” It addresses the question of the organization's reason for being – its purpose – not the how. The mission inspires; it is what you want your organization to be remembered for. The questions then guide you through the process of assessing how well you are doing, ending with a measurable, results-focused strategic plan to further the mission and to achieve the organization's goals, guided by the vision.

      The ultimate beneficiaries of this very simple process are the people or customers touched by your organization and by others, like you, who have made the courageous decision to look within yourselves and your organization, identify strengths and challenges, embrace change, foster innovation, accept and respond to customer feedback, look beyond the organization for trends and opportunities, encourage planned abandonment, and demand measurable results. Some organizations of the past rested on good deeds alone. Organizations of the future are relevant and sustainable with measurable results.

      This self-assessment model is flexible and adaptable. Walk this tool into any boardroom or CEO's office. Use it in any sector – public, private, or