Points to Ponder on "The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization" (segment 1)

Book: The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization

By Peter Drucker, with Jim Collins, Philip Kotler, James Kouzes, Judith Rodi, V. Kasturi Rangan, and Frances Hesselbein

(Notes, at this time, are from the AudioTech Book Summary)

Explore….the five simple, yet essential questions first posed by Peter F. Drucker, who is widely considered to be the world’s foremost pioneer of management theory. (In this issue column)

Analyze….your organization’s mission, which should be a short, sharply focused statement that tells everyone why you do what you do, not how you do it. (In this issue column)

Assess….who your target customers are, who and what influences them, what they value, how you can create satisfying experiences for them, and which customers you should stop serving. (In this issue column)

Determine….what specific results your organization should be striving to achieve, and where you should focus for future success. (In this issue column)

Develop….your organization’s plan, which must define the particular place you want to be as well as the budget and action steps that will enable you to get there. (In this issue column)

These five simple questions will help you to assess what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you must do to improve the organizations performance. (page 1)

What is our mission?

Who is our customer?

What does our customer value?

What are our results?

What is our plan?

The questions then guide you through the process of assessing how well you are doing, ending with a measurable, results-focused strategic plan to further the mission and to achieve the organization’s goals, guided by the vision. (page 1)

The ultimate beneficiaries of this very simple process are the people or customers who are touched by your organization and by others like you who have made the courageous decision to look within yourselves and your organization, identify strengths and challenges, embrace change, foster innovation, respond to customer feedback, look beyond the organization for trends and opportunities, and demand measurable results. (page 2)

The danger is in acting on what you believe satisfies the customer. (page 2)

All the first-rate decision makers that Drucker observed had a very simple rule: If you reach consensus quickly on an important matter, don’t make the decision. A fast agreement means nobody has done the homework. The organization’s decisions are risky and important, and they should be controversial. (page 2)

Every organization needs a healthy atmosphere for dissent if it wishes to foster innovation and commitment. Open discussion uncovers what the objections are. (page 2)

Self-assessment should convert your mission and your knowledge into effective action – not next year, but tomorrow morning. (page 2)