What I have learned from Drucker - Henry To

2009-8-19

What I have learned from Drucker: Ask the right questions that can change people’s life

Henry To,

CEO, Peter F. Drucker Academy, China

Vice President, Bright China Group

SUMMARY:

Knowing how to ask the right questions helps us to clear our mind, focus on our mission and objectives, use resources effectively and efficiently, do the right things and make the right decisions. Drucker said the right questions do not change as often as the answers do.

I first met Dr Drucker on April 2000. He opened our conversation with the question “Do you think what you are doing now (management education) is most needed in China?” In another meeting, he reminded again that what we are doing, that is “making available to China’s executives and entrepreneurs the best of the world’s management knowledge and management tools is of vital importance not only to China, but worldwide.”

In more than 10 times of meetings with Dr Drucker, it was his questions that keep Bright China Management Institute, now the Peter F. Drucker Academy going and fulfilling its mission.

Frankly speaking, when Dr Drucker asked this question 9 years ago, I do not understand why our management programs are ‘so’ important and “not only to China, but worldwide.” From economic perspective, China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Since free market reforms in 1978 China's GDP has grown an average 9.9 percent a year.

While every business and investor wants to share the growth of China’s prosperity, there is the other side of the coin. China is widely perceived as having problems in business ethics. The latest crisis in 2008 was some baby formula manufactures viciously added melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastic and tan leather, into their infant milk powder products. This is just another scary scandal after the toxic paint toys in 2007 and many others.

Dr Drucker taught us that one of the tasks of management is to manage social impacts and social responsibilities. Business is an organ of the society and the well-being of the society is essential for the business’s survival. Therefore all business should take up responsibilities for the employees, community and environment. Chinese executives and entrepreneurs are not so conscious in such task and traditional business schools are not taking up the role they should have. Some schools have specific stand-alone courses for social responsibility or business ethics subjects. However, this is not the idea of Dr Drucker. The concepts of managing social impacts and social responsibilities should be contained throughout all management courses. It is not an independent subject that can be separated from leadership, strategic thinking, marketing and sales, organizational behavior or financial and accounting subjects. Moral responsibility should be included in all the management programs. Leadership without ethical values or integrity is just a joke, and this joke caused the recent financial tsunami in Wall Street and later became economy crisis of the whole world.

China can grow on a proper and healthy path. However, it could also go the other way and may harm the world as it already becomes an economic giant. Dr Drucker is a force for good in the world. This is because he saw the threats of tyranny and through management, he wished, a stable and prosperous society with business taking up social responsibilities that are not done well by the other sectors can help to maintain a functioning society.

When Dr Drucker talked about management, his major focus is on people, human beings, precious creation of God. He emphasized the significance of mission, effectiveness, productivity, responsibility, contribution and result but not ranking, privileges, special rights, or power. These are the values that are mostly needed by the Chinese students and that is why Dr Drucker said our work is very important. Teaching Drucker programs will not make Drucker Academy rich or grow in large scale. However, this is an important task that Dr Drucker passed onto our shoulder. We are taking up an historical task and it is our honor to carry on his legacy in China.

Drucker Academy is devoted to promote the study and practice of Drucker’s teachings in China in pursuance of a prosperous, equal, righteous and harmonious China. To me, Dr Drucker’s question has the same meaning as: “What do you want to be remembered for?” My life has been changed by Dr Drucker, and so do many followers of him.