As 2014 slowly ends, I’ve been reflecting on a small but interesting fact: some of Peter Drucker’s most significant books were published in years ending in 4. They are:
The Practice of Management (1954). Jack Beatty, author of The World According to Peter Drucker, considers this to mark the invention of modern management.
Managing for Results (1964). This has some of Drucker’s best and most extensive work on the future, which I elaborated on in Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way.
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (1974). An 839 page compendium of Drucker’s management wisdom up to that point. In 2008, three years after Drucker’s death, Management: Revised Edition was published. It’s a significantly edited and revised version of the earlier book, written with Drucker School professor Joseph A. Maciariello. I reviewed it that year for USA TODAY.
The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done (2004). Drucker and Maciariello also collaborated on this book of daily inspiration, mostly excerpted from Drucker’s earlier books, but with some added material. It proved to be one of his best-selling titles. I also reviewed it for USA TODAY.
And for good measure, we can also include one of his two novels, The Temptation to Do Good(1984). I blogged about Drucker’s work as a novelist in 2009.
Is there a mysterious significance to Drucker publishing books in years ending in four? Presumably not. But it does give us a reason to revisit some of his most important writing ahead of 2015, when next November will mark the tenth anniversary of his death.
