Tag: Peter Drucker

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker

You culture is important which means your people are important.  A good leader spends a lot of time communicating vision and strategy.  Alignment with the vision is important.  One person in a small company can hijack the vision, strategy and the culture.

Jim Collins says get the right people on the bus before you decide where the bus is going.  This means getting the wrong people off the bus, as soon as possible.

Skill vs. cultural fit.  It’s hard to put one over the other.  Both are vital. Perhaps they are equal.

 

BloggingGazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

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Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship…the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” – Peter Drucker

Wealth is an outcome, not a mission.  It is a result of the creation of value.  Money is one way to measure value but there are others.

The creation of value consumes resources.  Money is a resource but there are others.

Innovation creates value that did not exist before, which is a powerful tool of the entrepreneur.  But equally powerful, and necessary, is the ability of the entrepreneur to gather the necessary resources to bring that value into being.  These include money, people, partnerships, advisors, investors and early customers.  We call these validations.

If you measure anything at all, measure your validations.  They are the leading indicator for the Startup.  They lead to success in the business.

 

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” —Peter Drucker

Everybody’s got an answer and most are willing to tell you about it.  But few are willing to do something about it.  Every time I hear, “I wish somebody would…,” I think “well why don’t you?”

Leading is hard.  You can’t do everything right because there are too many conflicting circumstances. Not everyone is going to be happy.  If you try to please everyone, you will miss the full benefit of your original goal; which is the only way to focus — on the original goal.

Impediments and obstacles can involve technology, situations and people.  If you hit a wall, find another path or break through it.  Consensus is good until it impedes the mission.  Great results will settle the noise and put all the opinions in the right place.

 

Blogging Gazelle is Published Daily by Shawn Carson

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” – Peter Drucker

I love the word “degenerate” and  I’am sure Dr. Drucker chose the word intentionally.

There is no value in any plan except that it translates to action.  The word “degenerate” emphasizes that the plan must transform and go away as soon as it materializes.

I’ve heard it put another way…   “Don’t just plan there,  DO SOMETHING!”

Strategic Planning and Business Modeling, although important and vital, are worth nothing in themselves.  As soon as you have a plan, test it in the market with your customers.  They will let you know if you are on the right track.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker

I like Guy Kawasaki’s “MBA on a slide”.  He has four scenarios about startups:

  1. If you not particularly good at doing something no ones cares about, well you’re dogfood.com
  2. If you are really really good at something no one cares about, well then you’re just plain stupid
  3. If you are pretty good at something a lot of people want, you may have to compete on price but you can be successful
  4. If you are really really good at something everybody wants, that’s where you want to be.

Good technology and efficient processes are best applied to large problems in large and growing markets.  Drucker calls it the Defensible Value Proposition.

Talent without a market is a hobby.  Talent with a large and growing market is a phenomenal business.

“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” – Peter Drucker

Hire great people, give them direction and inspiration, and then get out of their way.  Highly productive, creative people do not work well when they are micromanaged.  If they are not with the program, invite them off the bus early.  If you, or they made a mistake in coming onboard, invite them off the bus early.  The right people don’t need to be “managed”.

“Because it is its purpose to create a customer, any business enterprise has two basic functions: marketing and innovation… ” – Peter Drucker

One of my all time favorite business quotes is from Drucker and goes, “The purpose of the business is to have a customer.”  This is the direct follow up in sort of an “if, then” setup.

Innovation is the fun, exciting and invigorating part of entrepreneurship, especially for the technology based startup.  It’s temping to believe that if the app is cool enough, it will sell itself.  Business history is littered with examples of where the best technology did not win.  Xerox never realized the benefits of success of many of its stellar innovations because they chose not to market them.

Marketing is the communication of your value proposition to your customers.  It should commence early, long before the product is ready for beta.  The feedback you get will help you not only develop a cool technology, but it will also help you develop the product people will buy.

The marketing/innovation balance should be at least 50/50.

“There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer” – Peter Drucker

Great science is great science.  But it’s not a business…

Great technology can change the world.  But it’s not a business…

Great ideas capture imagination.  But it’s not a business…

Great people can inspire others.  But it’s not a business…

Great organizations can do great things.  But it’s not a business…

…until there’s a customer.