The test of innovation lies not in its novelty, its scientific content, or its cleverness. It lies in its success in the marketplace
—Peter Drucker
Posts Tagged ‘peter drucker’
Test of Innovation
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Reinventing yourself
Monday, November 13th, 2006Today, people at work rely more on their knowledge than skill. Knowledge and skill differ in that skills tend to change slowly whereas knowledge changes faster and quickly obsoletes itself. Therefore, a knowledge worker quickly becomes obsolete if he/she does not strive to learn and reinvent himself/herself.
The test is to ask yourself if you are confident that whatever knowledge and skill you have accumulated up until today be enough to carry you over the next 50 years of your working life. Finding a new supply of energy only goes so far and you are not growing younger each day. You have to make something different out of yourself.
Feedback: Key to continuous learning
Wednesday, August 9th, 2006
Whenever a Jesuit priest or a Calvinist pastor does anything of significance (for instance, making a key decision), he is expected to write down what results he anticipates. Nine months later, he then feeds back from the actual results to these anticipations. This very soon shows him what he did well and what his strengths are. It also shows him what he has to learn and what habits he has to change. Finally, it shows him what he is not gifted for and cannot do well.
Aaah, .. the power of documenting progress. Knowing thyself (yes, a clichè), knowing your strengths and weaknesses allows you to focus your energy on the essentials, like a magnifying glass that focuses the sun’s rays at a single point until it burns. Why waste effort? Effort costs! Even if you do not have to sleep and have unlimited energy, you are still bounded by time.
To know one’s strengths, to know how to improve them, and to know what one cannot do well — are the keys to continuous learning.
By their fruits, ye shall know them
Friday, July 14th, 2006I’m adding a new category named after the management guru Peter F. Drucker. His insights are truly priceless and still prove to be true today. I’ll be learning a lot from his writings.
A company/business entity, does not exist for its own sake. A company is more like a organism, where every employee is an organ (performing a specific function). So collectively, all the employees make up the entire company — and the goal of the company, like any living creature, is to survive and flourish. This is especially true for software companies, where you don’t have “physical” factories; each engineer is an “organ” and in California, your organs leave at 5 pm, and return to you at 9 am the next day — or may even decide to not return at all (usually if mistreated).
All organizations (formal or informal) have goals, said or unsaid. To reach that goal, it is essential to know what the performance measures are — without them, it is difficult to tell if you are headed in the right direction (or if you are moving at all).
Each institution will be stronger the more clearly it defines its objectives. It will be more effective the more yardsticks and measurements there are against which its performance can be appraised. It will be more legitimate the more strictly it bases authority on justification by performance.
Goal Setting
- What are the goals of your company? (and how can you better align yourself with this goal?)
- What are the goals of your department? (and how can you better align yourself with this goal?)
- What are the goals of your team? (and how can you better align yourself with this goal?)
By their fruits, ye shall know them. You are what you do. Do you know what you do?
