Living in More Than One World

Many notable people will be delivering commencement addresses on campuses across the country this month. But it is worth looking back to May 31, 1964, when Peter Drucker delivered the commencement addresses at the University of Scranton, in Scranton, Pa.  I was born and raised there, and in 2010 I wrote about my return to the city in May of that year, to give a presentation about my book based on Drucker’s work.
The June 1, 1964 edition of The Scranton Times published a transcript of Drucker’s talk, though it is not online. (However, the Drucker Archives has an online photo of his honorary doctorate degree.) While congratulating the all-male graduates – the school began admitting women in 1972 – he reminded them of the responsibility to put their knowledge to work for the benefit of as many people as possible. He said their years of education represented sacrifices from parents and money from taxpayers; and that it wasn’t long before when most people left school at 14 to go to work.  Hopes for a society “free from prejudice” and other injustices depended on these and similar graduates;  “the first generation of the “knowledge revolution” who will have to prove whether we have invested our faith, our resources and our hopes wisely or foolishly.”
Familiar themes from his books of that period were sounded; the change from producing things to knowledge work; the relatively new demand for educated people and how teaching hadn’t changed much in hundreds of years. “But what education and knowledge mean to society, that has changed drastically, and within the lifetime of the older generation still living.”
Drucker said that power and influence should not be used for selfish ends. They and others like them around the country faced “a very much brighter future than young people have ever faced before.” That, however, also brought a considerable challenge: “I hope you will remember that in turn it is your responsibility to put our knowledge and your education to work where they produce the most – for you, for your families, for your society, for your country and for mankind.”

What did Peter Drucker have in common with Bob Dylan and The Beatles? More than you might initially think. All were/are at the top of their fields; all were/are prolific, serious innovators. They also changed their initial styles of expression from their early to more mature work.
Beyond that, there are interesting geographic angles. Drucker, who was born in Vienna, Austria in 1909, began working as a clerk apprentice, and studying law at Hamburg University, in Germany, in 1927. This was a formative time for him, which included being introduced to great works of literature by a local librarian, and also attending the opera on a student ticket to hear what became a life-changing work, Verdi’s Falstaff.  Thirty- three years later, in 1960, The Beatles left Liverpool and did their own apprenticeship in Hamburg; playing grueling hours in the city’s gritty clubs. Their experiences formed the basis for the polished, groundbreaking band they would later become.
Drucker moved to the United States in 1937, and in 1950 began teaching at the Graduate Business School of New York University (now New York University Stern School of Business), an association that would last for two decades. While he was teaching at NYU, Bob Dylan moved from Minnesota to New York City’s Greenwich Village, in 1961. It’s fascinating to think that while Dylan was doing his world-changing work in the 1960s, Drucker was in the same city all along, teaching, consulting and writing some of his most important books, such as The Effective Executive and The Age of Discontinuity. While it’s tempting to think that Dylan and Drucker could have bumped into each other on the streets of the village near the NYU buildings, my understanding is that Drucker’s classes were actually held in the Wall Street area, so it is unlikely their paths crossed. (If anyone knows differently, I’d love to hear about it!)
People will still be reading Drucker’s books, and listening to the music of Dylan and The Beatles far into the future. And none of it would have happened without those early days of apprenticeship and inspiration.

I’ve been fascinated by the National Football League and National Basketball Association player drafts for a long time. A fun part of my job during 21 years (1987-2008) as a reference librarian at USA TODAY was researching articles for the Sports section, including those on the drafts. This year’s NFL draft was held last week, and the media coverage was the most intense ever, especially from national outlets like USA TODAY and ESPN, which broadcast the draft live, in prime time.
As expected, the first two picks were quarterbacks: Stanford’s Andrew Luck, chosen by the Indianapolis Colts, followed by Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, to the Washington Redskins. But the draft, even with intense scouting, interviewing and statistical research, is not an exact science. Success at quarterback is particularly difficult to predict, as shown in a 2008 article in The New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell, Most Likely to Succeed: How do we hire when we can’t tell who’s right for the job? Lots of high-round draft choices fizzle, while low-round choices end up becoming superstars. The most famous of those cases in recent years has been New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who wasn’t chosen until the 6th round of the 2000 draft. For an enlightening look at low-round picks who made it big, check out the NFL.com photo essay Best late-round NFL draft steals since merger.
Brady and the other draft “steals” illuminate something important that reflects much of the interest in this big-money business exercise. Teams, players and fans are given a sense of hope – if only for a short time – that the future will be better than the past. Or in the case of the top-of-the-standings teams, that their success can be sustained in the future. That sense of hope will be transferred to the basketball world soon. It’s less than two months to June 28th, the date of the NBA draft. More futures (individually and team-wide) are about to be created, for better or worse.

If you are anywhere near Arlington, Virginia from now until the end of May, check out the recently extended “D.C. Punk” exhibit at the Arlington County Public Library (where I did an author event in 2009). The combination of flyers for gigs and album cover posters vividly illuminate the music scene of the early punk era. In 2009, I wrote about part of my connection, including being neighbors in the same Arlington apartment building as Henry Rollins before he moved to California to join Black Flag.  Even before that, I first met Henry and his longtime friend Ian MacKaye, who started the phenomenally popular Dischord Records more than 30 years ago, while launching his own band, Minor Threat. Ian became even more popular with his subsequent band, Fugazi. As part of the exhibit, on April 18th the library screened “Instrument – Ten Years with the Band Fugazi :  A Film by Jem Cohen and the Washington D.C. Band Fugazi.” Individuals and companies can learn a lot about branding from studying the history of Ian and Dischord. Another related event takes place on April 26th, when Jennifer Egan will speak about her 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, a selection of Arlington Reads 2012.
Many other D.C. area bands of the punk era are featured in the exhibit. Whether you go or not, be sure to have a look at the extensive Flickr pages from DSI Archives. Some of the graphics are terrific, and the DIY, entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Another admirable aspect these graphics demonstrate is the commitment to social justice that some of these bands represented.
It’s only fitting that this exhibit takes place in a library, as evidenced by this column in LAWeekly last September: Henry Rollins: The Column! Henry Speaks On His Consciousness-Expanding Trip to the Library of Congress With Ian MacKaye, about a visit to LOC and the National Archives that Henry called “a day of nonstop awe and inspiration.”  Even if you don’t like listening to the music, you can have your consciousness expanded by your in-person or virtual visit to “D.C. Punk” at the Arlington County Public Library.

Tom Butler-Bowdon, author of the 50 Classics series, has a new book, Never Too Late to be Great: The Power of Thinking Long, that should provide considerable inspiration to many people who need it the most. Among those who should find it especially interesting and helpful are late bloomers, career changers, people in transition and even procrastinators. The premise is that significant success, even and especially in middle age and beyond, is possible if you think strategically in long enough time frames, while working hard and doing what is necessary to make it happen (e.g. additional learning, networking, and gaining experience in a field any way possible). And try not to be too impatient.
He is a master synthesizer of information who tells a story succinctly and effectively. A key message is that success is rarely preordained. Although the stories of Howard Schultz of Starbucks and Ray Kroc of McDonald’s have been told often, they still seem fresh here, especially when told from this vantage point. Hard work, diligence, a fierce entrepreneurial spirit, ingenuity and vision for the future propelled people like Schultz and Kroc to success, not anything in their background. And I found particularly interesting the roots of Amnesty International and its founder Peter Benenson; and the Lonely Planet publishing empire, founded by Tony and Maureen Wheeler. Ditto the long climbs of such literary figures as the novelists Lionel Shriver and Vikram Seth.
Butler-Bowdon wrote the book when he was 43, and many of the examples are of people who did not find their greatest successes until they were 40 or older, some much older. He explains some of the main ideas from the book in a recent Huffington Post, Life Isn’t Short: What it Means For Your Success. I interviewed him in 2010 for my blog, and in 2008 I wrote about and interviewed him for USA TODAY. While his message is important for middle age people, I think that younger readers will also find inspiration in these examples. When you have potentially many years stretching ahead of you, thinking long from the start can give you a tremendous advantage, and even peace of mind.

In 1975, the Relaxation Response, a book by Herbert Benson, a Harvard Medical School cardiologist, became a surprise, multi-million selling best-seller and led to his subsequent books such as Your Maximum Mind, Timeless Healing, The Breakout Principle and Relaxation Revolution. Benson is still writing and researching, and the January-February 2012 UTNE Reader has a fascinating Q&A with him, conducted by Daniel Redwood, about the roots of the relaxation response, and Benson’s work in stress reduction and related holistic health areas.

Relaxation in this sense is not engaging in relaxing activities, but the response of our bodies to techniques that, among other things, decrease heart rate, breath rate and blood pressure; and provide an alternative to the “fight-or-flight” response. Benson is now the Director Emeritus of the The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. The site describes the response and also provides directions for eliciting it. Meditation is one vehicle, but the interview points out that there are others, including yoga, repetitive prayer, and even activities like knitting or crocheting. There can be a religious or spiritual component, but it is not necessary. Benson points out in the interview that it is “very important to note that health and well-being is akin to a three-legged stool. One leg is pharmaceuticals. The second leg is surgery and other procedures. There has to be a third leg, and that leg is self-care. Within that self-care leg we have the relaxation response, nutrition, exercise, the beliefs of the patient, socialization, and cognitive restructuring.”

Benson’s work is needed now more than ever. Although many of the stressors of life are similar to what they were in 1975, a major trigger that did not exist then is our 24/7 always on, always connected, always expected to be available culture. The benefits from the relaxation response may be a key ingredient in helping today’s knowledge workers remain healthy and productive.

Marc Allen, the publisher of New World Library, has written a recent post about the fact that eight of the company’s authors have been included in Mind Body Spirit magazine’s 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. The list itself is pretty fascinating, with the Dalai Lama at #1 and New World Library authors Eckhart Tolle at #2 and Deepak Chopra at #4.  No matter what your system of belief, or unbelief may be, the best spiritually-oriented writers serve a wonderful purpose by helping readers to understand and interpret the deepest meanings in life.

Lists like the one in Mind Body Spirit help guide us to high-quality writers, but there are other valuable resources. Every year I look forward to The Best Spiritual Writing series, edited by Philip Zaleski and now published by Penguin. The 2012 edition collects articles and poems that have appeared recently in magazines and journals, including “A Chapel is Where You Can Hear Something Beating Below Your Heart,” by one of my favorite writers, Pico Iyer. He has contributed often to the series, including writing the introduction to the 2010 book. And each year Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat choose the Best Spiritual Books of the Year, categorized by topic, from the more than 300 reviewed each year on the Spirituality & Practice site. Another terrific resource is the 2005 book 50 Spiritual Classics, part of the 50 Classics series by Tom Butler-Bowdon. Tom’s website generously includes free full text of many of the chapters, including one on Tolle’s 1999 breakthrough book, The Power of Now. Unsurprisingly, there is considerable crossover between this list and the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Who are your favorite spiritual writers? Do they appear on these lists?

Leave it to The Economist, and specifically the Schumpeter management column, to find the intersection between Leonard Cohen and entrepreneurship. The February 25th Enterprising Oldies explores, in a neat package, why all of us (no matter where we are chronologically in adulthood) may have to explore entrepreneurship and other forms of self-employment at some point in our working lives.
As we think about how to diversify our portfolio of work experiences, it’s worth digging deeper into how we can apply some of the life lessons of the 77 year old Cohen, a singer/songwriter/poet/novelist who was inducted into the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. He’s written such oft-recorded classics as “Suzanne” and “Bird on a Wire,” and the more recent “Hallelujah.”
As pointed out in The Economist and a recent New York Times interview, part of Cohen’s recent renaissance has come about because he had to resume touring and recording to help make up for millions of dollars lost in dealings with a former financial adviser. But no matter what the impetus was, the fact is that he has a new album, Old Ideas, and has toured the world recently at far beyond traditional retirement age. What can we learn from his example?
1.    Diversified creative output. He has a tremendous body of work, going back more than 40 years, to draw on. It’s entirely possible that his poetry books are not major money-spinners, but he also has his albums, songwriting royalties (perhaps a considerable sum, given all the cover versions of his songs) and concert fees.
2.    A  powerful personal brand. Mention the name and people instantly associate it with him and his work.
3.    A global outlook. He has a worldwide following, with his books and music available worldwide, and fans everywhere, well beyond his native Canada.
4.    Remaining relevant. People are eager to listen to the new output of this 77 year old man, and he’s adding new fans all the time.
5.    An impressive body of work. One reason millions of dollars are at stake from Cohen’s career is that he has written and recorded so many important songs over more than 40 years.
Even if the work you do is not creative in nature, chances are you still may have to/want to work beyond 65. It’s never too soon, or too late to be thinking about amassing a high-quality body of work, diversifying your output, building your brand, thinking globally and remaining relevant.
As ties to traditional jobs and employment arrangements continue to evolve and become more tenuous, we will increasingly find ourselves in what could be called The Leonard Cohen Economy.

On January 26th I had the honor of speaking at a Drucker Business Forum event in Pasadena, California: Living in More Than One World: Bruce Rosenstein in Conversation With Shannon Barnes. Shannon, a senior advisor for the EDGE group, was a great conversation partner/moderator, and his multidimensional life story was a perfect complement to the idea of living in more than one world.
The forums (free, but registration required) are produced by the Drucker School. They are a valuable combination of education and networking, especially during the continental breakfast before the program. The forums are for Drucker alumni, and other members of the Los Angeles-area business and professional community.
Some are held in Los Angeles, but others, including this one, are in Pasadena, co-presented by the flagship Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) station, 89.3 KPCC, at an impressive venue that is part of their building complex, The Crawford Family Forum. The latter’s website describes it as a “welcoming, non-partisan, knowledge-building space where Southern Californians of all backgrounds can engage in the face-to-face exchange of knowledge and ideas that is becoming increasingly rare in the digital era.”
The idea of living in more than one world, developing and nurturing multiple and diverse areas of your life (inside and outside the workplace), resonated with the audience. It was apparent from their questions during the Q&A, and in discussions afterwards at the book signing. Some had been even been students of Peter Drucker.
Participating was especially gratifying, given some of the high-profile previous speakers, such as Howard Schultz, Gretchen Morgenson and Nobel economics laureate Michael Spence. Future speakers include Rick Wartzman, the executive director of the Drucker Institute, on February 23.
After the event ended, I told Mark Crowley, KPCC’s vice president and general manager (and a Drucker School alum) about my background in college radio and with the Voice of America, and asked him for a tour, which was fascinating. Check out the station’s website for digital offerings, or to listen live. And if you live in Southern California, make it a point to attend a Drucker Business Forum this year. You never know where it may lead.

Last week I wrote a guest post for LexisNexis Government Info Pro, Creating Your Total Life List for 2012. Much has been written at the end of last year and the beginning of this one about new beginnings. But as we get deeper into January, it’s easy for the fresh feeling to wear off. No matter how many systems you use to better your life, having handy reminders for self-improvement are always helpful:
1. Time management and productivity: Jason Womack, whose book Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More, will be released next month, is interviewed by Meridith Levinson for CIO.com, in Time Management: 6 Ways to Improve Your Productivity. (Meridith  interviewed me in 2009, for Peter Drucker as Life Coach: Book Shares His Wisdom.) What’s valuable about Jason’s advice is that it is work-specific, and we can never get enough good tips in this realm.
2. Happiness: This a topic gets hotter every year. For evidence see the January-February 2012 Harvard Business Review, with a number of happiness-themed articles, including Shawn Achor’s Positive Intelligence. Shawn wrote a terrific book, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, in 2010. Also check out The Happiness Advantage: An Interview with Shawn Achor, on the World of Psychology blog.
3.  Mindfulness and Stress Reduction: The British duo of Danny Penman and Mark Williams, authors of Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, have a guest piece for CNN.com, Destress your life in 10 easy steps. Also have a look at their recent posts for Psychology Today. For a personal account of the benefits of mindfulness meditation, see Newsweek’s Mindfulness Meditation Is Rediscovered, by Amy Gross, the former editor in chief of O, the Oprah Magazine.
4. Lifelong Learning: Opportunities abound, from taking classes (both in person and online) to self-directed learning from books and articles in print and online. For quick, painless tips and idea-starters, check out Newsweek’s 31 Ways to Get Smarter in 2012.
Obviously there are many other categories, strategies and techniques for improving your life this year. But any one of the four above would be a great place to start.