Take Your Seat For The Spring 2022 Self-Directed Peter Drucker-Related Semester
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In this follow-up to “Your Self-Directed Peter Drucker-Related Fall 2021 Semester,” my September 10, 2021 Corporate Learning Network post, we will explore additional areas of Drucker-related study in the new Spring 2022 semester.
Peter Drucker devised his own self-study programs on many different topics throughout much of his life, even when he was in his 90s. My course is inspired by Drucker’s learning habits, studying Drucker and his work as the main topic.
In the outline/syllabus below, the semester is divided into 12 weekly segments, starting with the week of February 21, and ending the week of May 9. Each week has a selected topic and a Drucker book, along with a book by another author for related/additional reading.
Since it's impractical to read two entire books each week, feel free to read as much as you find to be applicable in each book on the weekly topic. See the information below on supplementary sources of information for suggested ways to learn more about Drucker and the weekly topics.
Each week after you have read/viewed the chosen material, write a brief (1-2 pages) statement on the following:
- Drucker’s central point regarding the topic, based on your interpretations of the readings
- Applicability to your current life and work
- Future implications for your life and work
Week 1: February 21, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Productivity
Drucker Book Reading: Management: Revised Edition, 2008
Additional/Related Reading:
Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours, by Robert C. Pozen
Week 2: February 28, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Strategy
Drucker Book Reading: Management: Revised Edition, 2008
Additional/Related Reading:
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy
Week 3: March 7, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Turbulence and Disruption
Drucker Book Reading: Managing in Turbulent Times, 1980
Additional/Related Reading:
Disrupt Yourself: Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve, by Whitney Johnson
Week 4: March 14, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Change
Drucker Book Reading: Managing in a Time of Great Change, 1995
Additional/Related Reading:
Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, by April Rinne
Week 5: March 21, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Chief Executive Officers
Drucker Book Reading: The Effective Executive, 1967 (50th-anniversary edition, 2017)
Additional/Related Reading:
How to Lead: Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers, by David M. Rubenstein
Week 6: March 28, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Economics
Drucker Book Reading: Peter F. Drucker on Nonprofits and the Public Sector (originally published as Toward the Next Economics and other Essays, 1981)
Additional/Related Reading: 50 Economics Classics: Your shortcut to the most important ideas on capitalism, finance, and the global economy, by Tom Butler-Bowdon
Mid-term assignment: Take a virtual ‘field trip’ to an organization anywhere in the world that exemplifies one of the topics during the first six weeks. Write an essay of 750-1000 words about impressions of what you learned from the organization’s website (and any other supplementary material).
For instance, your writing could be about a virtual visit to the headquarters of a company, educational institution or nonprofit organization that you believe to be exceptionally strong on organizational strategy, or on navigating change.
Week 7: April 4, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Politics
Drucker Book Reading: Peter F. Drucker on Business and Society (originally published as Men, Ideas & Politics: Essays by Peter F. Drucker, 1971)
Additional/Related Reading: 50 Politics Classics: Freedom, Equality, Power, by Tom Butler-Bowdon
Week 8: April 11, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Careers
Drucker Book Reading: Management Challenges for the 21st Century, 1999
Additional/Related Reading:
The Career Manifesto: Discover Your Calling and Create an Extraordinary Life, by Mike Steib
Week 9: April 18, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Reinvention
Drucker Book Reading: Drucker on Asia, 1995
Additional/Related Reading: Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, by Herminia Ibarra
Week 10: April 25, 2022
Topic: Drucker on a Functioning Society
Drucker Book Reading: A Functioning Society: Selections from Sixty-five Years of Writing on Community, Society, and Polity, 2003
Additional/Related Reading:
The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today, by David Stasavage
Week 11: May 2, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Art and Music
Drucker Book Reading: The Ecological Vision: Reflections on the American Condition, 1993
Additional/Related Reading: The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, 25th Anniversary Edition, by Julia Cameron
Week 12: May 9, 2022
Topic: Drucker on Spirituality and Religion
Drucker Book Reading: The Ecological Vision: Reflections on the American Condition, 1993
Additional/Related Reading:
50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom From 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose, by Tom Butler-Bowdon
Supplementary Potential Sources of Information
- Articles and books found online via Google and other search engines (including material from Corporate Learning Network!)
- Articles and books in your own personal library
- Articles and books from public/academic/corporate libraries
- Drucker Institute: https://www.drucker.institute/
- Drucker School of Management/Claremont Graduate University: https://www.cgu.edu/school/drucker-school-of-management/
- Global Peter Drucker Forum: https://www.druckerforum.org/home/
Final project: Write an essay of 750-1000 words about the main points of what you've learned in the 12 weeks; what topics were most valuable and what topics you'd like to pursue in more depth in the future.
Projected Outcome
A key goal of this self-directed course is developing skills in finding and evaluating relevant, high-quality information and turning that information into knowledge.
For purposes of keeping organized and maintaining strong time management, keep all of your material together, either in a computer file, or a notebook. That makes it easier to view your progress and connect the dots of what you’ve learned week to week.
Keep a list of the sources you used (such as titles and authors of books and articles), as well as useful websites. If you have physical copies (as opposed to e-books) of the books for weekly reading, keep them together on your bookshelf.
If you apply yourself sufficiently, you’ll find that you’ve learned a lot about the weekly topics through a Drucker-related lens, but with the added perspective of high-quality related resources.
Time moves quickly. Before you know it, you’ll be getting ready for the Fall 2022 semester!
