Managing Oneself

Re-read this classic article by Peter Drucker - Managing Oneself. I was first introduced to me in my Management of People at Work course. Sometimes I think that the value of some courses in SMU simply lies in the prof introducing students to awesome articles.

Drucker urged his readers to answer some of these questions; What are my strength and values? Where do I belong? How do I learn?

He also urged cross disciplinary learning. It is no good if a technical guy (e.g. engineer/accountant) don't know anything about human behavior, or that a HR manager know nothing about how technical guys work.

On Ideas vs Execution

"...he believes that ideas move mountains. But bulldozers move mountains; ideas show where the bulldozers should go to work."

On learning and its problems
"Schools everywhere are organized on the assumption that there is only one right way to learn and that it is the same way for everybody. But to be forced to learn the way a school teaches is sheer hell for students who learn differently."

To Jie Chao (Drucker is speaking to YOU!): "But most people, especially highly gifted people, do not really know where they belong until they are well past their mid-twenties. By that time, however, they should know the answers to the three questions: What are my strengths? How do I perform? and. What are my values? And then they can and should decide where they belong."

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Wishing all my readers a great New Year ahead of you!