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Book Review : Managing In Turbulent Times by Peter F Drucker


This is  a book that I purchased for all of Rs. 30/- in a roadside second-hand book vendor in Camp Pune; a book that was discarded. After reading it, I am frankly surprised at the fact that this got discarded! Well, I certainly benefited big time from this largesse from my benefactor, whoever he or she was. Thanks a lot friend; I can only hope you procured a later edition. After reading it, despite its observed weaknesses, I can honestly state this is a must-read for everyone in Business.



ABOUT THE BOOK
The book is titled Managing in Turbulent Times; a venture in which is fails magnificently. But, as the movie dialogue of LOC Kargil stated – some goals are so worthy it is glorious even to fail. The book has failed – totally failed – in answering the problem it starts out asking; nonetheless, this deeply engaging, rewarding and informative book does give truckloads of value addition to the practicing Business Manager, even now – 30+ years after it was first penned!

It is subdivided into chapters Managing for Fundamentals, Managing For Tomorrow, Managing The Sea Change, Managing Turbulent Environments. The entire approach of the book is that of a birds’ eye view rather than a microscopic view of the Business Environment. By that, I mean the book looks extensively at the macro environmental factors, typically ones that are national or global or at least industry-wide. It does not dig deep into the why, how of managing a business during turbulent times; rather, imho, it helps us understand what a turbulent time is, and what we can expect. Given that this book is dated, this also tells us it is feasible to spot macro trends long before they actually start, which is a decided plus in the modern fast-changing environment.

THE WEAKNESS
The most significant weakness in the book is that this is a book written by a westerner writing for the West for the benefit of the West. The author has, throughout the book, looked that The Western Economies as different from the Eastern ones, or developing ones, and makes a clear distinction. There is no racist or any objectionable thought; but, and this is a significant but, it assumes development prerogatives / objectives for The East from a western standpoint, which is inadmissible. The excuse that this was written in a different time with norms that are divergent to current ones does not hold any water; what is wrong is wrong in any time, bar none.

The glaring assumption of Eastern or rather Developing economies producing in cooperation with Western Enterprises to produce goods for consumption for the West and its convenience sounds gross and colonial from my Indian Standpoint. Don’t we have the ability to produce and grow up the value chain without your benevolent help, dear sir? May I remind you it is our money that The West looted and used to grow rich? If we can do it once, we can certainly to it again, thank you very much. And, why the assumption that Developing nations produce for the West? Don’t we have our own internal markets and consumption needs that can power our own innovation and growth? This is why I have been insisting we in India need our own independent management research, rather than buy into such colonial and one-sided views of development.

THE PLUSES
The book starts off on a massive plus, giving deep insights to how to manage in turbulent times, before going off on a tangent – a tangent on which it stays for the rest of the book. It does a bang-up job of defining turbulence in the business sense, and correctly & prophetically identifies the coming decades of the 80, 90s and 00s as ones of turbulence. It identifies the need for some specific and close management of the factors of production, and their proper usage. But the biggest plus comes is highlighting how top management are living in their own silos, and that they need to connect with the ground realities.



“We are entering a period of turbulence, a period of rapid innovation, a period of fast and radical structural shifts… planning, as commonly practiced, assumes a high degree of continuity… the most probable assumption in a period of turbulence is the unique event which cannot be planned for but which can be foreseen… this requires strategies for tomorrow, strategies that anticipate where the greatest changes will take place and what they are likely to be…” How many modern organizations as on date actually do this simple exercise seriously? A list of Company & Brand Failures bears mute testimony to the consistent failure of Business Managers to do this very task!

There are many takeaways throughout the book; for example, the emphasis on knowing exactly where your capital is employed; or the simple question of cost of staying in Business. Another example is this far-reaching observation : 4 key resources have to be managed consistently…. Capital,, crucial physical assets, time and knowledge. As early as the 1980s, Peter F Drucker had identified and internalized the importance of knowledge in the new world.

The next chapter is frankly pedantic in  comparison – Managing for Tomorrow. That said, it is also a must read, and is deeply thought provoking. Most importantly, it is in this segment of the book that the prophetic nature of the observations of the authors first begins to become apparent. Also, the part of managing for tomorrow, which outlines a  scorecard for managers – one which looks at Performance in Appropriating Capital, Performance in People Decisions, Performance in Innovation and Strategies versus Performance is one of the strongest value adds in the book.

The next 2 chapters digress from the theme of the book; instead of going deeper into the specifics of each identified parameter in the first two chapters, it goes off on a lengthy tangent of analyzing global markets and trends – demographic, political, technological and so on. Here, the focus is solely on the West – which isn’t bad; this is a book written in the West. The problem is the assumptions identified in the section of weaknesses I have outlined above.

That said, there are many, many learnings to be had in this segment; unfortunately, most of the observations are now dated, as this book is one penned in 1980. What does hit home is the deep study of the author of the then realities, and his prophetic observations. Quite a few of these hit home exactly; while not all did; some were frankly far-reaching and outlandish, but if anyone is right 7 out of 10 times in future observation accuracy, then we can concede the deep knowledge of that person.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this is a book half-finished; it required one chapter that went deeper into the specifics of managing in turbulent times based on the first two chapters. That would have rounded it off perfectly, making for a 5-star effort. As it stands, I rate it 4-stars – less one star for the assumptions on the East – so that makes it 3 stars. On the learning front, it gives a superb framework on which we can build our own internal detailed strategies for managing in volatile environments, as well as a standing lesson in the power of Market Analysis. Excellent book, must read!


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