Quotes by Peter Drucker

• Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.
• The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.
• The best way to predict the future is to create it.
• The computer is a moron.
• The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.
• The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.
• The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.
• The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.
• The purpose of a business is to create a customer.
• Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the "naturals," the ones who somehow know how to teach.
• Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.
• The most efficient way to produce anything is to bring together under one management as many as possible of the activities needed to turn out the product.
• Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.
• Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans.
• We can say with certainty - or 90% probability - that the new industries that are about to be born will have nothing to do with information.
• We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.
• When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course.
• There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
• Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.
• Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.
• Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to tolerate nonperforming individuals in important jobs.
• The new information technology... Internet and e-mail... have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.
• Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.
• Suppliers and especially manufacturers have market power because they have information about a product or a service that the customer does not and cannot have, and does not need if he can trust the brand. This explains the profitability of brands.
• Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
• Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level.
• Management by objective works - if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don't.
• Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
• Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only senior executives' decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake.
• My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.
• Never mind your happiness; do your duty.
• So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.
• No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.
• People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.
• Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.
• Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.
• Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.
• Few companies that installed computers to reduce the employment of clerks have realized their expectations... They now need more, and more expensive clerks even though they call them 'operators' or 'programmers.'
• Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you've got.
• Business, that's easily defined - it's other people's money.
• Accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer.
• Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information.
• A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.
• Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.
• The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic.
• Legacy is not leaving something for people, it's leaving something in people.
• Do not fear mistakes, only fear the absence of creative solutions.
• The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it.
• The best way to predict the future is to create it
• In every success story, you'll find someone who made a courageous decision.
• Success often comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it—because they're actively creating their own path toward greatness.
• The best way to predict your future is to create it — and have fun along the way!
• The best way to predict your future is to create it, unless you're trying to prank yourself, then just expect surprises!
• Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things — but coffee is what keeps it all together!
• Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it, unless you're entrepreneur and forgot where you stored it!
• The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself—preferably before breakfast.
• The best way to predict the future is to create it—and if that fails, at least you’ll have an interesting story!
• The best way to predict the future is to create it, but really, lunch is non-negotiable!
• The best way to predict the future is to create it—unless you want to predict unlimited snacks, too!
• The best way to predict your future is to create it. Just try not to create it in a busy place!
• The best way to predict your future is to create it, one crazy idea at a time!
• The best way to predict your future is to create it—so gather your paintbrush and get to work!
• The best way to predict the future is to create it, but if that doesn't work out, perhaps you could learn to predict when it's going to rain!
• The best way to predict the future is to create it, but watch out for those who already ordered their donut holes!
• The best way to predict the future is to create it, and remember, the first step comes after a dozen spoonfuls of courage!
• The only way to predict the future is to create it — preferably one where coffee exists on every corner.