Loving Drucker, Fearing the Full Drucker

"Although Peter Drucker did not like autocratic management, I must be autocratic about one thing: all employees must learn Drucker's management theories," said Cheng Zhenshuo, the owner of a chemical company in Huangshan, Anhui. Despite the economic downturn in China, his business has grown this year. Like many Chinese bosses, Mr. Cheng enjoys drinking tea, reading Buddhist scriptures, and discussing ancient Chinese classics like Laozi and "Da Xue" in his spare time. However, he believes that Drucker's management theories are more practical for businesses and employees. When Mr. Cheng requires his employees to study Drucker, he refers to Drucker's smart advice on how to work efficiently, such as how managers should manage time, how to hold more effective meetings, and how to motivate partners and employees with high goals. In his view, Drucker's works provide him with a toolbox for "working smarter."

"When the boss is the most powerful person in the company, he should be wary of his own arrogance. If the boss is always smarter than the employees, likes to hear praise, and the employees feel they need to rely on the boss for everything, then despite past successes, the company's future is unlikely to be bright," said Sun Zhiyong, the owner of a high-end furniture company ranked second in China's luxury furniture market. Mr. Sun discovered Peter Drucker earlier than Mr. Cheng. In the early 2000s, to understand Drucker's management theories, he would take the night train from Hefei to Beijing every month, a time when China's high-speed rail was not yet developed. He believes the most important lesson he learned from Drucker is the restraint and caution of power. Among Drucker's "entrepreneur readers," Mr. Sun is one of the few who discovered the theme of "power" in Drucker's books. Over more than 20 years of entrepreneurial life, Mr. Sun has grown increasingly appreciative of Drucker's wisdom: if an entrepreneur enjoys the glory brought by power and thus does everything possible to seize power, it may bring disaster to the enterprise. Because overly concentrated and therefore ineffective power can drain the vitality of the enterprise. However, Mr. Sun discusses this topic very cautiously. He likes to express his views on "power" to familiar entrepreneur friends. But he never allows his topics to go beyond the boundaries of business management. In China, avoiding political discussions is a protective measure for entrepreneurs and their companies.

In today's China, entrepreneurs like Mr. Cheng and Mr. Sun are very typical. Born in the 1970s, they did not receive a complete formal education and built medium-sized enterprises from scratch. They have a clear understanding of their abilities, knowing their success comes from the era, luck, and rich life experiences. They also know these factors cannot guarantee continued success in future competition. To manage their companies more wisely, they need a sound methodology to help them better understand the world, politics, economy, work, and life itself.

Many Chinese entrepreneurs and professional managers need a methodology for work and life. As a result, various methodologies have become hot commodities, creating a huge market. Every year, publishers release a large number of best-selling books on methodologies. Countless training courses are offered online and in high-end hotel conference rooms. Business lecturers sell various methodologies promising success to entrepreneurs. Some claim their wisdom comes from ancient Chinese texts, while others come from the latest research in American business schools. Among these courses, Peter Drucker's management theories are not popular. Compared to those trendy success courses, Drucker's philosophy always seems out of place because Drucker emphasizes responsibility over profit.

Chinese entrepreneurs also like to talk about the word "responsibility." However, most bosses think "responsibility" is a tool to restrain and punish employees. Even if they read the word "responsibility" in Drucker's books, they habitually understand it in their own way. As a result, many employees in Chinese companies do not particularly like their bosses studying Drucker. Therefore, whenever a boss talks about Drucker, employees guess that "this year's workload will definitely be greater." In the boss's dictionary, "responsibility" is synonymous with "work tasks." Bosses like to pat employees on the shoulder and kindly tell them, "Your responsibility this year will be greater than last year."

If these bosses seriously read a few of Drucker's articles, they would likely not enjoy talking about Drucker as much. This is because Drucker's understanding of "responsibility" is completely opposite to theirs. Drucker believes responsibility is primarily about self-awareness and self-discipline. Only by understanding responsibility can people effectively use knowledge and power to create performance. Few entrepreneurs can understand and appreciate Drucker's concepts. When they translate their understanding into action, they find that Drucker can help them lead their companies better.

Therefore, despite being born in the early 20th century and passing away in the early 21st century, Peter Drucker's books are still bestsellers in China.

The China Machine Press is the agent for Drucker's works in China. They have just published commemorative editions of "The Effective Executive" and "Managing for Results." These two books have been popular in China for many years, with many pirated copies circulating. Nevertheless, the latest commemorative editions are still bestsellers. The editors at the China Machine Press are smart. They know Drucker's books have a good market in China, so they actively form marketing teams and use various methods to promote Drucker's works. Usually, these marketing methods are only used for newly published books. However, the editors' cleverness is also reflected in another aspect: they have published the complete works of Drucker, but most of the works have been abridged.

They want entrepreneurs to buy Drucker's books but do not want political censors to notice them.

This brings us to the interesting aspect of Peter Drucker. He was a renowned management theorist, and his books are useful to entrepreneurs and professional managers. However, Mr. Drucker never wrote solely for entrepreneurs, and his interests were not limited to business management. Politics and society were deeply concerned topics for Drucker. He predicted the collaboration between Hitler and Stalin in the 1920s and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. His first book was titled "The End of Economic Man."

The China Machine Press published the complete works of Peter Drucker, but this collection does not include Drucker's first book because its theme is totalitarianism. Moreover, you will not find discussions about Stalin, Mao Zedong, and communism in this collection. You can read Drucker's insightful views on Christianity in this collection, but you may find it difficult to understand because the necessary context has been removed.

The editors believe Drucker's books are valuable but also know that unabridged versions are dangerous. Entrepreneurs who like Drucker have similar views. They like Drucker because they found some methodology in one of his books or a particular sentence, but sometimes they also find Drucker annoying because they do not intend to think or discuss politics like Drucker. Discussing politics in China is risky; discussing politics like Drucker is especially dangerous. According to Drucker, the prerequisites for a healthy political environment are:

·                Freedom based on responsibility

·                Power with clear boundaries

·                Vigilance against totalitarianism

·                A diverse social ecology

·                Pluralistic and autonomous social organizations

·                Respect for individual freedom and dignity

Every editor and entrepreneur knows these are dangerous topics.

This is the situation of Peter Drucker in China. People love Drucker, but fear the full Drucker.