Peter Drucker's leap to faith: Examining the origin of his purpose‐driven life and its impact on his views of management
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret the spiritual foundation that permeates all Drucker's contributions, and to show that his convictions served as his internal compass, thus helping him to develop and articulate a coherent and unequivocally ecological view of the nature of management.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper makes use of primary data by focusing on Drucker's published works, as well as private correspondence found at the online Drucker Archives of the Drucker Institute in Claremont Graduate University. It also makes use of materials written about Drucker and his views by former students and colleagues.
Findings
The paper presents Drucker as a lifelong learner, as the excellent student who used his personal lens to observe, synthesize, and purposefully distil his experiences into what would become the practice of management. The paper examines his contributions to the field of management from a personal perspective by presenting Drucker as the spiritual philosopher, the social ecologist, the learning teacher, and the refracting bystander.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that Drucker's views achieve greater clarity, poignancy, and relevance when contextualized within his personal philosophy. This foundation humanizes his phenomenal contributions, and increases respect for a man who exemplified what he preached.
Originality/value
Presenting Drucker as a pragmatist alone devalues his overall contributions to management and society. In an era of reported spiritual decline and commodization of the individual, Drucker's spiritually‐aligned contributions remind readers that doing the “right thing” is both simple and complicated, but always a timelessly human right and responsibility.
Keywords
Citation
Fernandez, S. (2009), "Peter Drucker's leap
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited