In Praise of Peter Drucker

I am an inveterate fan of Peter Drucker.  I think God gave him one of the extraordinary minds of the 20th-century and that his contribution to the world has not yet been truly calculated.† He was a self-designated “social ecologist,” which is a much more accurate descriptive than that of “management guru” or even “father of modern management” that most people today like to apply to him. What fascinates me about Drucker was his ability to sum up the necessary structures in business and organizational life in such an efficient way. I think that most books on business and management written after him are simply footnotes to something he said with greater succinctness and clarity.If you have not yet read any Drucker, then a good place to start is “The Essential Drucker”. It is a excellent summary of some of his best writing, and a great introduction to his world.† He was a Christian humanist at heart, and his belief as to how organizations should function is one that takes into account the various realities of Chrisitan theology and helps apply them to the everyday life of man. Although his writing is not overtly theological, it is well-informed by a Christian worldview. His emphasis on the individual, on meaning, and on service should not be underestimated. It is these things that are the backbone of any Christian society. Drucker was just extremely smart in arguing they should exist in any good society, thereby pushing forward a Christian view of work perhaps more effectively than anyone else in the 20th-century.