The IDB Project is a series of posts sharing summaries, snippets, and takeaways from INSIDE DRUCKER’S BRAIN (Jeffrey Krames)
CHAPTER SEVEN
Abandon All But Tomorrow
“The first step in a growth policy is not to decide where and how to grow. It is to decide what to abandon. In order to grow, a business must have a systematic policy to get rid of the outgrown, the absolute, [and] the unproductive.” — Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker preached “purposeful abandonment.” He felt the best way for a company to grow is to first stop doing what’s not working. That is, abandon projects that fail to deliver results. Abandon products that fail to increase profit. And abandon people that fail to make worthwhile contributions to the company.
Drucker’s “purposeful abandonment” is very similar to Jim Collins’ “Stop Doing List” concept.
In GOOD TO GREAT, Collins brought renewed relevance to “purposeful abandonment” by giving it a catchy name — Stop Doing List. Collins writes, “Take a look at your desk. If you're like most hard-charging leaders, you've got a well-articulated to-do list. Now take another look: Where's your stop-doing list?” [source]
Collins continues, “Those who built the good-to-great companies, however, made as much use of ‘stop doing’ lists as ‘to do’ lists. They displayed a remarkable discipline to unplug all sorts of extraneous junk.” [source]
For sound advice on what to include in a “Stop Doing” list, we look to Peter Drucker. In MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR THE 21st CENTURY (1999), Drucker shared, “If what looks like an opportunity does not advance the strategic goal of the institution, it is not an opportunity. It is a distraction.” Both Drucker and Collins agree, distractions must be avoided.
Next, Chapter Eight of the The IDB Project.
Thanks again John for sharing your summaries. Much appreciated.
There is power in purposeful abandonment.
Early in my career when I was pastoring I preached a series of message entitled, "the power of NO". My basic point was that if you can't say "no" your "yes" won't mean or accomplish much.
As you can tell, these Drucker summaries get me jazzed up.
Keep creating...it energizes the troops,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Wagner | December 17, 2008 at 10:10 AM