Mungerisms: Amusing Quotes from Charlie Munger from the Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Meeting

Amusing Quotes from Charlie Munger from the Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Meeting

Charlie Munger is not always politically correct, always offers a wealth of information, and hilarious now and then. At the 2014 annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, here are some of his best zingers:

  • On the interplay between CEOs and corporate directors regarding compensation: “You start paying directors of corporations two or three hundred thousand dollars a year, it creates a daisy chain of reciprocity where they keep raising the CEO and he keeps recommending more pay for the directors.”
  • On CEO pay and work habits: “Does the Supreme Court work less hard because they don’t get paid like corporate executives? We have some corporate directors who draw more pay than members of the Supreme Court. That’s crazy,”
  • 'Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger' by Peter D. Kaufman and Ed Wexler (ISBN 1578645018) On taxing the 1%: “The taxes on wealth were much higher when I was much younger. So for somebody of my age, I don’t think they’re ruining the world because I’ve lived through way more punitive taxes on the rich than we have now … I don’t think everybody who’s been especially favored should take the last dollar that he or she should get. I think we all have an obligation to dampen these fires of envy.”
  • On Facebook, Twitter, and the appeal of social media: “It just doesn’t interest me at all to gab all the time on the Internet with people and I certainly hate the idea of young people putting in permanent form the dumbest thoughts and the dumbest reports of action that you can ever imagine.”
  • On his favorite advance in technology: “I’m in love with the Xerox machine.”
  • On Donald Sterling, the then-owner of NBA Clippers, who then faced racial remarks and lifetime ban:”He’s a peculiar man. He’s past 80. His girlfriend has had so many facelifts she practically can’t smile. This is not the noblest ideal of what the American businessman should be.”

Insightful books about Charlie Munger

Robert Greene’s “The 48 Laws of Power”: 48 Laws of Manipulation

48 Laws of Manipulation

'The 48 Laws of Power ' by Robert Greene (ISBN 0140280197) [Robert Greene’s ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ identifies a darker path to fulfil our deep seeded desire to be powerful. The philosophies and actions advocated in this book are callous, unprincipled, devious, scheming, manipulative—a good dose of pure utilitarian nonsense for the foolish, insensitive, and greedy personality. Manipulation is a term much more appropriate for the suggestions in this book. Manipulation by means of deceit and maintaining the illusion of power is what you are going to learn from this book, not how to be ethical and influential!

  1. Kiss the boss’s ass.
  2. Make enemies. You can learn from them.
  3. Conceal your intentions.
  4. Speak cryptically.
  5. Defend your reputation; destroy those who challenge it.
  6. Be an attention seeker.
  7. Use other people to do things for you and take the credit.
  8. Bait people.
  9. Don’t analyze, act.
  10. People who are hurt are like contagious parasites.
  11. Make people depend on you.
  12. Be “selectively honest”, disarm your “victim” with generosity.
  13. People have no sense of mercy or thankfulness.
  14. Pretend to be someone’s friend while gathering information on them.
  15. Destroy people, annihilate them. Ruin their lives.
  16. Play hookie to make people “want” you.
  17. Engage in interpersonal intimidation.
  18. Be one in the crowd; use the crowd to shield you from your enemies.
  19. Don’t screw over the wrong person.
  20. Be non-committal.
  21. Pretend to be dumb, so they won’t suspect.
  22. Surrender, to stab your enemy in the back.
  23. Use every resource you have to defeat an enemy.
  24. Flatter people, yield to your boss, and be cruel to those under you.
  25. Don’t abide by the social contract. Ally yourself only to yourself. Redefine this self to get as much attention as possible.
  26. Keep your hands clean: erase any knowledge others have of you messing things up. Never admit to your mistakes. Instead, scapegoat other people.
  27. Develop a God complex. Feed people what they want to hear and make them follow you.
  28. Be bold in all of your actions.
  29. Plan out every little thing.
  30. Make your accomplishments seem effortless. Also, never let anyone know how you did them.
  31. Control people’s options.
  32. Feed people the lies they want to hear.
  33. Find out everyone’s button, save this information, and push it accordingly.
  34. Act like a member of royalty.
  35. Master timing.
  36. Show contempt for things (and people) you cannot have. By showing you are upset, you are admitting “weakness”.
  37. Create a lot of spectacles.
  38. Behave like other people as a mask.
  39. Use other people’s emotions; play with them.
  40. Free things are dangerous. Instead, pay for everything yourself and make sure people see it.
  41. Don’t follow in anyone’s footsteps.
  42. Attack someone that bothers you. Don’t bother negotiating or understanding them. Just attack them so they shut up and your reputation remains intact.
  43. Seduce people by playing with their emotions.
  44. Mirror people so they get annoyed and humiliated.
  45. Preach “change” and other vague promises, but never act too much on them.
  46. Pretend to mess up once in a while. People will see that you’re not a sociopath after all.
  47. Achieve in moderation.
  48. Be formless. Form, order, routine equals predictability. And those watchful guys following you over your shoulder all this time will spot that and destroy you.

The Golden Rule in the Great Cultures and the Great Religions

The Golden Rule Poster, Golden Rule in the Great Cultures and the Great Religions

The Golden Rule or the ethic of reciprocity is the definitive, all-encompassing principle for ethical behavior. In essence, this maxim states, “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself” in the positive form and “One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated” in the negative form, the latter called the Silver Rule. The utility of the Golden Rule is primarily in developing a framework of personal ethics, in forming a psychological outlook toward others, and not necessarily in directing behavior.

We find the Golden Rule in all the great cultures and the great religions of the world:

  • Golden Rule in Baha’i Faith: “Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.” [Source: Baha’u’llah, Gleanings]
  • Golden Rule in Buddhism: “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” [Source: Udana-Varga 5.18]
  • Golden Rule in Christianity: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” [Source: The Bible, Matthew 7:12]
  • Golden Rule in Confucianism: “One word which sums up the basis of all good conduct….loving-kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.” [Source: Confucius, Analects 15.23]
  • Golden Rule in Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” [Source: Mahabharata 5:1517]
  • Golden Rule in Hinduism: “Why does a man inflict upon other creatures those sufferings, which he has found by experience are sufferings to himself?” [Source: Tiruvalluvar, Tirukkural Verse 318]
  • Golden Rule in Islam: “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” [Source: The Prophet Muhammad, Hadith]
  • Golden Rule in Jainism: “One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.” [Source: Sutrakritanga 1.11.33]
  • Golden Rule in Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” [Source: Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a]
  • Golden Rule in Native Spirituality: “We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.” [Source: Chief Dan George]
  • Golden Rule in Sikhism: “I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.” [Source: Guru Granth Sahib, p.1299]
  • Golden Rule in Taoism: “Regard your neighbour’s gain as your own gain and your neighbour’s loss as your own loss.” [Source: Laozi, T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien, 213-218]
  • Golden Rule in Unitarianism: “We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” [Source: Unitarian principle]
  • Golden Rule in Zoroastrianism: “Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.” [Source: Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29]

Notes: Poster compiled by Paul McKenna for “Guidelines for Golden Rule” Workshop, published by Scarboro Missions, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

The Significance of the Golden Rule

Norman Rockwell Mosaic called Golden Rule at the United Nations

The Golden Rule describes a guide to a fundamental behavior and is taught in most major religious and moral traditions.

The Golden Rule has been articulated either positively as “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12); or negatively, counseling that you not do to others what you would not wish them to do to you, as in the teachings of Confucius (“Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”) or Hillel (“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour”).

The Golden Rule’s all-inclusive simplicity has invited innumerable belittling counter-examples. For example, should masochists impose their favorite annoyances on unsuspicious acquaintances? Nonetheless, such counter-examples and critiques the point of the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule was never proposed as a guide to practical choice unaided of all other principles of moral conduct and behavior. In fact, the Golden Rule alludes to nothing about particular moral and ethical considerations, nor does it validate specific moral principles, qualities, and ideals.

To be more precise, the Golden Rule has to do with a perspective philosophy that is indispensable to the exercise of even the most rudimentary morality: one of seeking to situate oneself in the position of those affected by one’s actions, in an attempt to counteract the natural tendency to ignore moral considerations and ethical short-sightedness.

The Golden Rule directs one to treat others with the compassionate considerations that one wishes to contend with (in the positive form,) and, in particular, not to perpetrate misfortunes on others that one would abhor to have inflicted on oneself.

The Golden Rule has long been thought fundamental. Therefore many moral philosophers have compared it to their own principles concerning moral choice and conduct.

  • Immanuel Kant, German philosopher In “Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals”, German philosopher Immanuel Kant dismissed the Golden Rule as inconsequential and too limited to be a universal law: “Let it not be thought that the trivial quod tibi non vis fieri, etc. [what you do not will to be done to you, etc.] can here serve as a standard or principle. For it is merely derived from our principle, although with several limitations. It cannot be a universal law, for it contains the ground neither of duties to oneself nor of duties of love toward others (for many a man would gladly consent that others should not benefit him, if only he might be excused from benefiting them). Nor, finally, does it contain the ground of strict duties toward others, for the criminal would on this ground be able to dispute with the judges who punish him; and so on.”
  • John Stuart Mill, English philosopher In “Utilitarianism”, English philosopher John Stuart Mill claimed that, “In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. To do as you would be done by, and to love your neighbour as yourself, constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality.”

The Best Tweets by Career Coach Marty Nemko: Life Lead Well & Career Success

Marty Nemko is an Oakland, CA-based career coach, and author.

Marty Nemko is an Oakland, CA-based career coach, and author. Marty hosts the “Work with Marty Nemko” on KALW-FM, an NPR-San Francisco station.

'How to Do Life: What they didn't teach you in school' by Marty Nemko (ISBN 1467960705) Marty Nemko blogs about career, education, men’s and boys’ issues, the life well-led, and improving the world at martynemko.blogspot.com/. A compilation of his articles and writings are at www.martynemko.com/. His YouTube channel is at www.youtube.com/user/mnemko.

Marty also published a compilation of his articles in newspapers, blogs, magazines, and on his website in book chock full of wisdom: ‘How to Do Life: What they didn’t teach you in school’.

Here are the very best of Marty Nemko’s tweets from his @MartyNemko handle.

  • “I even take care to tear-off single sheets of toilet paper. Because I’m cheap? No. Because it’ll help the environment? No. I just think wasting is wrong.”
  • “If you relentlessly pursue a big goal with laser-beam focus, you will likely like your life and be a most worthy person.”
  • “Where at all ethically possible, we must give others hope. Without it, a person figuratively or even literally dies.”
  • “Exploring what your parents did to you may provide insight but, often, your life is no better. It just legitimizes your malaise, maybe even increases your stuckness..”
  • “Facing our parents’ aging forces us to confront our own mortality. It reminds us to appreciate and live each moment wisely.”
  • “Keep it simple: Reasonable diets all distill to: Lots of vegetables and legumes, some fruit, and small portions of everything else.”
  • “Be kind where you can, tough where you should.”
  • “If you have a clearly good idea, to avoid getting talked out of it, get input only on how to better execute it.”
  • “As we age, we may accrue a creeping bitter wisdom.”
  • “Telling people I can’t lose weight may make me eat more—to prove myself right. Perhaps if I told people, “‘I’m gonna lose 20.'””
  • “There’s cost and benefit each time you criticize or suggest. Sometimes, it’s worth the price. Make the choice consciously.”
  • “That a partner ‘gets’ you, this is what above all cements love: love as accurate (but still benevolent) interpretation.”
  • “A desire to “give back” needn’t imply giving to the neediest. It could mean giving to those with the most potential to benefit.”
  • “We dun perfectionism, e.g., as causing procrastination. Yet haven’t your perfectionist efforts yielded the most good & satisfaction?”
  • “A mantra to cure procrastinators: It needn’t be perfect; it needn’t be fun; it just has to get done.”
  • “Far better than a course is self-study + a tutor to get you past your trouble spots.”
  • “Far more of life’s pleasures are in the process than in the outcome. Be in the moment.
  • “Whatever bad awaits, don’t let it spoil the present moment.”
  • “Scratch the surface of any thinking ideologue and you’ll find doubts. Ask, “Ever wondered whether the other side might be right?””
  • “Might you be wise to focus more on self-acceptance than self-improvement? That might even motivate you to self-improve.”
  • “More than a little “processing” of past bad experiences is often counterproductive.”
  • “No matter how brilliant you are, if your style is too intense, most people will dismiss you.”
  • “It’s easy to be liked: listen more than talk, praise often, and disagree rarely. The question is, is it worth the loss of integrity? “
  • “Long-winded? Constantly ask yourself, “Does the person really need & want to know this phrase?” And keep utterances to <30 sec.”
  • “I used to think most people are intrinsically motivated to work hard. But I’m finding that many if not most people need monitoring.”
  • “The key to a well-led life is maxing your contribution. Happiness, less key, is most likely found in simple pleasures.”
  • “How feeble are we that we’re swayed more by dubious flattery than by valid suggestions.”
  • “Key to being liked: While retaining integrity, do more agreeing, amplifying, empathizing. do less arguing, one-upping, yes-butting.”
  • “Why do so many people prefer a silly, manipulative, games-playing, selfish hottie over an ugly, intense, honest, kind person?”
  • “It all comes down to this: Do good.
  • “You’ll likely learn more of enduring value from an hour of wise googling than from any course.”
  • “Part of getting older may mean having to accept that we may not make as big a difference in the world as we had hoped.”
  • “For many people, before age 60, it’s business before pleasure. After 60, pleasure before business.”
  • “To boost self-esteem: accept you’re flawed like everyone, do what you’re good at, & accomplish: Even little wins boost self-esteem.”
  • “A clue to what career or avocation you should pursue is to inventory how you actually spend your discretionary time.”
  • “If you’ve been beaten up in Rounds 1-9, it’s hard to come out for Round 10.”
  • “It’s hard to change people’s work style: aggressive vs passive, hardworking vs moderate. So it may be wise to praise their status-quo.”
  • “Many people can do well in school, even get PhDs, yet are unhireable in the real world. The degree is US’s most overrated product.”
  • “A resume rarely helps—it’s too filled with chemistry-inhibiting cliche. Write & tell the “resume” that’d reveal your true story & self.”
  • “Be tough where you must be, kind where you can be.”
  • “You can do everything right and still fail, not just once, but overall in life. Luck is more important than we acknowledge.”
  • “A clue to what career you should pursue: When you’re really comfortable, what do you love to talk about?”
  • “If you want to lock in a new attitude or behavior, say and/or write that and why. Then keep paraphrasing, NOT reading it.”
  • “Before making an argument, ask a likely opponent to lay out the counterargument. Your argument can then incorporate that.”
  • “In your desire to stand out from the horde, beware of hyping yourself, your ideas, or taking inappropriately extreme positions.”
  • “Giving advice makes the recipient feel less efficacious, so weigh that against the benefit your advice will likely yield.”
  • “Unefficacious people can’t or CHOOSE TO not bounce back—it’s a good excuse to avoid facing their inefficacy yet again.”
  • Teamwork is deified. Don’t forget the pluses of individualism: more motivation, bolder/less compromised solutions, speed.”
  • “When overwhelmed, after doing any needed planning, just stay in the moment and put one foot in front of the other.”
  • “If your self-esteem is low, perhaps focus on finding work you can succeed at. Real self-esteem comes from accomplishment.”
  • “If someone smiles at you with pursed lips, they’re generally forcing the smile—either because they’re shy or don’t like you.”
  • “Wasting money on designer labels is so 20th-century. It’s a permanent loss of money in exchange an evanescent feel-good.”
  • “Don’t confuse tact with cowardice. Sometimes, it’s wise to speak up boldly.”
  • “Talking too much is a career killer. Keep all utterances to less than 45 seconds &, in dialogue, speak a bit LESS than 50% of the time.”
  • “School can give a false sense of confidence or of loserhood. Too often, school success does not predict life success.”
  • “Your goal must not be to impress but to accomplish. That usually demands bringing out the best in others.
  • “Just because you CAN prove someone wrong, doesn’t mean you should.”
  • “I fear we’ll make everything equal until everyone has nothing.”
  • “To boost motivation: what’s your next 1-second task? It feels good to get even a tiny task done, make progress, and maybe learn something.”
  • “To disagree without creating enmity: “I can see why you’d X. (explain.) And (not but) I’m wondering if Y. What do you think?””
  • “In managing & parenting, praise when you can, & when you can’t, try invoking guilt, e.g., “I know you’re better than this.””
  • “The most powerful motivator may not be fear—people go back to bad habits after a heart attack. Could it be proving themselves right?”
  • “As we age, there’s a creeping bitter wisdom we accrue.”
  • “When you think you can nail someone with your argument, take a breath & see if you can phrase it as a face-saving question.”
  • “Some people are nice as a way of compensating for their not being good.”
  • “If possible, slightly under-schedule yourself. That gives you the time to make your work higher-quality.”
  • “Ever get tired of being nice? Tempted to throw caution to the wind and say what you really think? If deserved, even yell? “
  • “Winners do not let themselves succumb to anything. They distract themselves by immersing themselves in their most engaging work.”
  • “Good conversationalists choose a topic that enables each participant to contribute. “
  • “It worked for me, it can work for you books aren’t helpful because typical readers are less smart & driven than book authors.”
  • “To broaden your horizons, mix with people other than people from your own background (professional, cultural, social, academic, racial, ethnic, etc.) Most people prefer the company of other people from similar backgrounds. Birds of a feather do flock together.”
  • “Most of us think ourselves bold, individualistic thinkers when in fact we’re tepid if not downright lemmings.”
  • “Good, simple conversation starter, “What’s doing in your life?” or “Whatcha been thinking about these days?””
  • “What skill of yours has given you the must success? Use it more.”
  • “The most valuable way to spend a dollar? A memo pad. Keep it with you at all times. Think of ideas. Write them down. Implement them.”
  • “Successful, productive people fuel themselves with their work & accomplishment, unsuccessful people through recreation.”
  • “The desire to be right usually trumps the desire for truth.”
  • “The only God resides within us: It is our our wisest attitudes and actions.”
  • “We hear stories of persistence rewarded yet for each of those, hundreds have pressed on only to end up broken and/or broke.”
  • “If the risk/reward ratio of taking an action is good, even if you may fail, it’s usually wise to follow Nike’s advice: Just do it!”
  • “Sometimes, a problem has both a rational and an irrational component. It may help to try to solve those separately.”
  • “People see counselors when they could journal on their own. People take classes when they could read on their own. Why? They’re forced to act.”
  • “Don’t give up prematurely. Your continued efforts will iterate, improve based on lessons learned from your past failures.”

A Comprehensive List of Books Authored by Management Guru Peter F. Drucker

Peter Ferdinand Drucker, the father of management theory

Famed management guru Peter Ferdinand Drucker spent his life contemplating and writing about how business interests, politics, and human nature interact at companies, non-profits, and governments all over the world. His consultations had an almost legendary reputation in business circles.

Peter Drucker wrote influential works about management since the 1940s. He has written about 30 books, and from 1975 to 1995 he was an editorial columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Books by Peter F. Drucker

“The End of Economic Man” (1939)

'The End of Economic Man', Book by Peter Drucker The End of Economic Man is Drucker’s first full-length book. It is a diagnostic study of the totalitarian state and the first book to study the origins of totalitarianism. He describes the reasons for the rise of fascism and the failures of established institutions that led to its emergence. Drucker develops an understanding of the dynamics of the totalitarian society and helps us to understand the causes of totalitarianism in order to prevent such a catastrophe in the future. Developing social, religious, economic, and political institutions that function effectively will prevent the emergence of circumstances that frequently encourage the totalitarian state.
     Buy “The End of Economic Man” by Peter Drucker

“The Future of Industrial Man” (1942)

'The Future of Industrial Man', Book by Peter Drucker Drucker describes the requirements for a functioning society by developing a social theory of society in general and of the industrial society in particular. In The Future of Industrial Man, Peter Drucker presents the requirements for any society for it to be both legitimate and functioning. Such a society must give status and function to the individual. The book addresses the question: “How can individual freedom are preserved in an industrial society in light of the dominance of managerial power and the corporation?” Written before the entrance of the U.S. into World War II, it is optimistic about post-World War II Europe and reaffirms its hopes and values through a time of despair. The book dared to ask, “What do we hope for the postwar world?”
     Buy “The Future of Industrial Man” by Peter Drucker

“Concept of the Corporation” (1946)

'Concept of the Corporation', Book by Peter Drucker This classic book is the first to describe and analyze the structure, policies, and practices of a large corporation, General Motors. The book looks upon a “business” as an “organization,” that is, as a social structure that brings together human beings in order to satisfy economic needs and the wants of a community. It establishes the “organization” as a distinct entity, and management of an organization as a legitimate subject of inquiry. The book represents a link between Drucker’s first two books on society and his subsequent writings on management. Detailed information is provided regarding such management practices as decentralization, pricing, and the roles of profits and of labor unions. Drucker looks at General Motors’ managerial organization and attempts to understand what makes the company work so effectively. Certain questions are addressed, such as: “What are the company’s core principles, and how do they contribute to the success of the organization?” The principles of organization and management at General Motors described in this book became models for organizations worldwide. The book addresses issues that go beyond the borders of the business corporation, and considers the “corporate state” itself.
     Buy “Concept of the Corporation” by Peter Drucker

“The New Society – The Anatomy of Industrial Order” (1950)

'The New Society - The Anatomy of Industrial Order', Book by Peter Drucker In The New Society, Peter Drucker extends his previous works The Future of Industrial Man and Concept of the Corporation into a systematic, organized analysis of the industrial society that emerged out of World War II. He analyzes large business enterprises, governments, labor unions, and the place of the individual within the social context of these institutions. Following publication of the of The New Society, George G. Higgins wrote in Commonweal, “Drucker has analyzed, as brilliantly as any modern writer, the problems of industrial relations in the individual company or ‘enterprise.’ He is thoroughly at home in economics, political science, industrial psychology, and industrial sociology, and has succeeded admirably in harmonizing the findings of all four disciplines and applying them meaningfully to the practical problems of the ‘enterprise.’ Drucker believes that the interests of the worker, management, and corporation are reconcilable with society. He advances the idea of “the plant community” in which workers are encouraged to take on more responsibility and act like “managers.” He questions whether unions can survive in their present form if the worker is encouraged to act as a manager.
     Buy “The New Society – The Anatomy of Industrial Order” by Peter Drucker

“The Practice of Management” (1954)

'The Practice of Management', Book by Peter Drucker This classic is the first book to define management as a practice and a discipline, thus establishing Drucker as the founder of the discipline of modern management. Management has been practiced for centuries, but this book systematically defines management as a discipline that can be taught and learned. It provides a systematic guide for practicing managers who want to improve their effectiveness and productivity. It presents Management by Objectives as a genuine philosophy of management that integrates the interests of the corporation with those of the managers and contributors to an organization. Illustrations come from such companies as Ford, GE, Sears, Roebuck & Co., GM, IBM, and AT&T.
     Buy “The Practice of Management” by Peter Drucker

“America’s Next Twenty Years” (1957)

'America's Next Twenty Years', Book by Peter Drucker In this collection of essays, Peter Drucker discusses the issues that he believes will be significant in America, including the coming labor shortage, automation, significant wealth in the hands of a few individuals, college education, American politics, and perhaps most significantly, the growing disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots.” In these essays, Drucker identifies the major events that “have already happened” that will “determine the future.” “Identifying the future that has already happened” is a major theme of Drucker’s many books and essays.
     Buy “America’s Next Twenty Years” by Peter Drucker

“Landmarks of Tomorrow” (1957)

'Landmarks of Tomorrow', Book by Peter Drucker Landmarks of Tomorrow identifies “the future that has already happened” in three major areas of human life and experience. The first part of the book treats the philosophical shift from a Cartesian universe of mechanical cause to a new universe of pattern, purpose, and configuration. Drucker discusses the need to organize men of knowledge and of high skill for joint effort, and performance as a key component of this change. The second part of the book sketches four realities that challenge the people of the free world: an educated society, economic development, the decline of the effectiveness of government, and the collapse of Eastern culture. The final section of the book is concerned with the spiritual reality of human existence. These are seen as basic elements in late-twentieth-century society. In his new introduction, Peter Drucker revisits the main findings of Landmarks of Tomorrow and assesses their validity in relation to today’s concerns.
     Buy “Landmarks of Tomorrow” by Peter Drucker

“Managing for Results” (1964)

'Managing for Results', Book by Peter Drucker This book focuses upon economic performance as the specific function and contribution of business and the reason for its existence. The effective business, Peter Drucker observes, focuses on opportunities rather than problems. How this focus is achieved in order to make the organization prosper and grow is the subject of this companion to his classic, The Practice of Management. The earlier book was chiefly concerned with how management functions as a discipline and practice, this volume shows what the executive decision-maker must do to move his enterprise forward. One of the notable accomplishments of this book is its combining of specific economic analysis with the entrepreneurial force in business prosperity. For though it discusses “what to do” more than Drucker’s previous works, the book stresses the qualitative aspect of enterprise: every successful business requires a goal and spirit all its own. Managing for Results was the first book to describe what is now widely called “business strategy” and to identify what are now called an organization’s “core competencies.”
     Buy “Managing for Results” by Peter Drucker

“The Effective Executive” (1966)

'The Effective Executive', Book by Peter Drucker The Effective Executive is a landmark book that develops the specific practices of the executive that lead to effectiveness. It is based on observations of effective executives in business and government. Drucker starts by reminding executives that the measure of effectiveness is the ability to “get the right things done.” This involves five practices: (1) managing one’s time, (2) focusing on contribution rather than problems, (3) making strengths productive, (4) establishing priorities, and (5) making effective decisions. A major portion of the book is devoted to the process of making effective decisions and the criteria for effective decisions. Numerous examples are provided of executive effectiveness. The book concludes by emphasizing that effectiveness can be learned and must be learned.
     Buy “The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker

“The Age of Discontinuity” (1968)

'The Age of Discontinuity', Book by Peter Drucker Peter Drucker focuses with great clarity and perception on the forces of change that are transforming the economic landscape and creating tomorrow’s society. He discerns four major areas of discontinuity underlying contemporary social and cultural reality: (I) the explosion of new technologies resulting in major new industries, (2) the change from an international to a world economy, (3) a new sociopolitical reality of pluralistic institutions that poses drastic political, philosophical, and spiritual challenges, and (4) the new universe of knowledge work based on mass education along with its implications. The Age of Discontinuity is a fascinating and important blueprint for shaping a future already very much with us.
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“Men, Ideas, and Politics” (1970)

'Men, Ideas, and Politics', Book by Peter Drucker Technology, Management, and Society presents an overview of the nature of modern technology and its relationships with science, engineering, and religion. The social and political forces, which increasingly impinge on technological development, are analyzed within the framework of broad institutional change. Scholars and students troubled by society’s growing reliance on technological solutions to complex social and political problems will welcome Peter Drucker’s critical perspective.
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“Technology, Management, and Society” (1971)

'Technology, Management, and Society', Book by Peter Drucker This book is a compilation of thirteen essays addressing the issues of society “people, politics, and thought. Included are essays on Henry Ford, Japanese management, and effective presidents. Two articles in particular show aspects of Drucker’s thinking that are especially important. One is an essay on “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard,” which encourages the development of the spiritual dimension of humankind. The other is on the political philosophy of John C. Calhoun, describing the basic principles of lsowo0 America’s pluralism and how they shape government policies and programs.
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“Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices” (1973)

'Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices', Book by Peter Drucker This book is a compendium of Drucker on management. It updates and expands upon The Practice of Management. It is an essential reference book for executives. Management is an organized body of knowledge consisting of managerial tasks, managerial work, managerial tools, managerial responsibilities, and the role of top management. According to Peter Drucker, “This book tries to equip the manager with the understanding, the thinking, the knowledge, and the skills for today’s and also tomorrow’s jobs.” This management classic has been developed and tested during more than thirty years of management teaching in universities, executive programs, seminars, and through the author’s close work with managers as a consultant for large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals, and schools.
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“The Pension Fund Revolution” (1976)

'The Pension Fund Revolution', Book by Peter Drucker In this book, Drucker describes how institutional investors, especially pension funds, have become the controlling owners of America’s large companies, and the country’s “capitalists.” He explores how ownership has become highly concentrated in the hands of large institutional investors, and that through the pension funds, “ownership of the means of production” has become “socialized” without becoming “nationalized.” Another theme of this book is the aging of America. Drucker points to the new challenges this trend will pose with respect to health care, pensions, and social security’s place in the American economy and society, and how, altogether, American politics would increasingly become dominated by middle-class issues and with the values of elderly people. In the new epilogue, Drucker discusses how the increasing dominance of pension funds represents one of the most startling power shifts in economic history, and examines their present-day impact.
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“Adventures of a Bystander” (1978)

'Adventures of a Bystander', Book by Peter Drucker Adventures of a Bystander is Drucker’s collection of autobiographical stories and vignettes, in which he paints a portrait of his life, and of the larger historical realities of his time. Drucker conveys his life story “from his early teen years in Vienna through the interwar years in Europe, the New Deal era, World War II, and the postwar period in America” … “through intimate profiles of a host of fascinating people he’s known through the years. Along with bankers and courtesans, artists, aristocrats, prophets, and empire builders, we meet members of Drucker’s own family and close circle of friends, among them such prominent figures as Sigmund Freud, Henry Luce, Alfred Sloan, John Lewis, and Buckminster Fuller. Shedding light on a turbulent and important era, Adventures of a Bystander also reflects Peter Drucker himself as a man of imaginative sympathy and enormous interest in people, ideas, and history.
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“Managing in Turbulent Times” (1980)

'Managing in Turbulent Times', Book by Peter Drucker This important and timely book concerns the immediate future of business, society, and the economy. We are, says Drucker, entering a new economic era with new trends, new markets, a global economy, new technologies, and new institutions. How will managers and management deal with the turbulence created by these new realities? This book, as Drucker explains it, “is concerned with action, rather than understanding, with decisions, rather than analysis.” It deals with the strategies needed to adapt to change and to turn rapid changes into opportunities, to turn the threat of change into productive and profitable action that contributes positively to our society, the economy, and the individual. An organization must be structured to withstand a blow caused by environmental turbulence.
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“Toward the Next Economics” (1981)

'Toward the Next Economics', Book by Peter Drucker These essays cover a wide-ranging collection of topics on business, management, economics, and society. They are all concerned with what Drucker calls “social ecology” and especially with institutions. These essays reflect ‘the future that has already happened.”, The essays reflect Drucker’s belief that, in the decade of the 1970s, there were genuine changes in population structure and dynamics, changes in the role of institutions, changes in the relation between sciences and society, and changes in the fundamental theories about economics and society, long considered as truths. The essays are international in scope.
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“The Changing World of the Executive” (1982)

'The Changing World of the Executive', Book by Peter Drucker These essays from the Wall Street Journal explore a wide variety of topics. They deal with changes in the workforce “its jobs, its expectations” with the power relationships of a “society of employees,” and with changes in technology and in the world economy. They discuss the problems and challenges facing major institutions, including business enterprises, schools, hospitals, and government agencies. They look anew at the tasks and work of executives, at their performance and its measurement, and at executive compensation. However diverse the topics, these chapters have one common theme, the changing world of the executive “changing rapidly within the organization, changing rapidly with respect to the visions, aspirations, and even characteristics of employees, customers, and constituents, changing outside the organization, as well, economically, technologically, socially, politically.
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“Innovation and Entrepreneurship” (1985)

'Innovation and Entrepreneurship', Book by Peter Drucker The first book to present innovation and entrepreneurship as a purposeful and systematic discipline. It explains and analyzes the challenges and opportunities presented by the emergence of the entrepreneurial economy in business and public service institutions. It is a major contribution to functioning management, organization, and economy. The book is divided into three main sections: (1) The Practice of Innovation, (2) The Practice of Entrepreneurship, and (3) Entrepreneurial Strategies. Drucker presents innovation and entrepreneurship as both practice and discipline, choosing to focus on the actions of the entrepreneur as opposed to entrepreneurial psychology and temperament. All organizations, including public-service institutions, must become entrepreneurial to survive and prosper in a market economy. The book provides a description of entrepreneurial policies and windows of opportunity for developing innovative practices in both emerging and well-established organizations.
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“The Frontiers of Management” (1986)

'The Frontiers of Management', Book by Peter Drucker This book is a collection of thirty-five previously published articles and essays, twenty-five of which have appeared on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. Featuring a new introduction, Drucker forecasts the business trends of what was then the next millennium. The Frontiers of Management is a clear, direct, lively, and comprehensible examination of global trends and management practices. There are chapters dealing with the world economy, hostile takeovers, and the unexpected problems of success. Jobs, younger people, and career gridlock are also covered. Throughout this book, Drucker stresses the importance of forethought and of realizing that “change is opportunity” in every branch of executive decision-making.
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“The New Realities” (1989)

'The New Realities', Book by Peter Drucker This book is about the “next century.” Its thesis is that the “next century” is already here, indeed that we are well advanced into it. In this book, Drucker writes about the “social superstructure” politics and government, society, economy and economics, social organization, and the new knowledge society. He describes the limits of government and dangers of “charisma” in leadership. He identifies the future organization as being information-based. While this book is not “futurism,” it attempts to define the concerns, the issues, and the controversies that will be realities for years to come. Drucker focuses on what to do today in contemplation of tomorrow. Within self-imposed limitations, he attempts to set the agenda on how to deal with some of the toughest problems we are facing today that have been created by the successes of the past.
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“Managing the Non-Profit Organization” (1990)

'Managing the Non-Profit Organization', Book by Peter Drucker The service, or nonprofit, sector of our society is growing rapidly (with more than 8 million employees and more than 80 million volunteers), creating a major need for guidelines and expert advice on how to lead and manage these organizations effectively. This book is an application of Drucker’s perspective on management to nonprofit organizations of all kinds. He gives examples and explanations of mission, leadership, resources, marketing, goals, people development, decision-making, and much more. Included are interviews with nine experts that address key issues in the nonprofit sector.
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“Managing for the Future” (1992)

'Managing for the Future', Book by Peter Drucker Bringing together the most exciting of Drucker’s many recent essays on economics, business practices, managing for change, and the evolving shape of the modern corporation, Managing for the Future offers important insights and lessons for anyone trying to stay ahead of today’s unremitting competition. Drucker’s universe is a constantly expanding cosmos composed of four regions in which he demonstrates mastery: (1) the economic forces affecting our lives and livelihoods, (2) today’s changing workforce and workplaces, (3) the newest management concepts and practices, and (4) the shape of the organization, including the corporation, as it evolves and responds to ever-increasing tasks and responsibilities. Each of this book’s chapters explores a business or corporate or “people” problem, and Drucker shows how to solve it or use it as an opportunity for change.
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“The Ecological Vision” (1993)

'The Ecological Vision', Book by Peter Drucker The thirty-one essays in this volume were written over a period of more than forty years. These essays range over a wide array of disciplines and subject matter. Yet they all have in common that they are “Essays in Social Ecology” and deal with the man-made environment. They all, in one way or another, deal with the interaction between individual and community. In addition, they try to look upon the economy, upon technology, upon art, as dimensions of social experience and as expressions of social values. The last essay in this collection, The Unfashionable Kierkegaard, was written as an affirmation of the existential, the spiritual, and the individual dimension of the Creature. It was written by Drucker to assert that society is not enough “not even for society. It was written to affirm hope. This is an important and perceptive volume of essays.
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“Post-Capitalist Society” (1993)

'Post-Capitalist Society', Book by Peter Drucker In Post-Capitalist Society, Peter Drucker describes how every few hundred years a sharp transformation has taken place and greatly affected society “its worldview, its basic values, its business and economics, and its social and political structure. According to Drucker, we are right in the middle of another time of radical change, from the Age of Capitalism and the Nation-State to a Knowledge Society and a Society of Organizations. The primary resource in the post-capitalist society will be knowledge, and the leading social groups will be “knowledge workers.” Looking backward and forward, Drucker discusses the Industrial Revolution, the Productivity Revolution, the Management Revolution, and the governance of corporations. He explains the new functions of organizations, the economics of knowledge, and productivity as a social and economic priority. He covers the transformation from Nation-State to Megastate, the new pluralism of political systems, and the needed turnaround in government. Finally, Drucker details the knowledge issues and the role and use of knowledge in the post-capitalist society. Divided into three parts “Society, Polity, and Knowledge” Post-Capitalist Society provides a searching look into the future as well as a vital analysis of the past, focusing on the challenges of the present transition period and how, if we can understand and respond to them, we can create a new future.
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“Managing in a Time of Great Change” (1995)

'Managing in a Time of Great Change', Book by Peter Drucker This book compiles essays written by Drucker from 1991 to 1994 and published in the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal. All of these essays are about change: changes in the economy, society, business, and in organizations in general. Drucker’s advice on how managers should adjust to these tectonic shifts centers on the rise of the now-ubiquitous knowledge worker and the global economy. In this book, Drucker illuminates the business challenges confronting us today. He examines current management trends and whether they really work, the implications for business in the reinvention of the government, and the shifting balance of power between management and labor.
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“Drucker on Asia” (1995) with Isao Nakauchi

'Drucker on Asia', Book by Peter Drucker Drucker on Asia is the result of an extensive dialogue between two of the world’s leading business figures, Peter F. Drucker and Isao Nakauchi. Their dialogue considers the changes occurring in the economic world today and identifies the challenges that free markets and free enterprises now face, with specific reference to China and Japan. What do these changes mean to Japan? What does Japan have to do in order to achieve a “third economic miracle”? What do these changes mean to society, the individual company, the individual professional and executive? These are the questions that Drucker and Nakauchi address in their brilliant insight into the future economic role of Asia.
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“Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management” (1996)

'Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management', Book by Peter Drucker This is a significant collection of Peter Drucker’s landmark articles from the Harvard Business Review. Drucker seeks out, identifies, and examines the most important issues confronting managers, from corporate strategy to management style to social change. This volume provides a rare opportunity to trace the evolution of great shifts in our workplaces, and to understand more clearly the role of managers in the ongoing effort to balance change with continuity, the latter a recurring theme in Drucker’s writings. These are strategically presented here to address two unifying themes: the first examines the “Manager’s Responsibilities,” while the second investigates “The Executive’s World.” Containing an important interview with Drucker on “The Post-Capitalist Executive,” as well as a preface by Drucker himself, the volume is edited by Nan Stone, longtime editor of the Harvard Business Review.
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“Management Challenges for the 21st Century” (1998)

'Management Challenges for the 21st Century', Book by Peter Drucker In this compilation of essays culled from published magazine articles and a lengthy essay appearing in The Economist in November 2001, and interviews during the period of 1996 to 2002, Drucker has expertly anticipated our ever-changing business society and ever-expanding management roles. In this book, Drucker identifies the reality of the ‘Next Society,” which has been shaped by three major trends: the decline of the young portion of the population, the decline of manufacturing, and the transformation of the workforce (together with the social impact of the Information Revolution). Drucker also asserts that e-commerce and e-learning are to the Information Revolution what the railroad was to the Industrial Revolution, and thus, an information society is developing. Drucker speaks of the importance of the social sector (that is, nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations), because NPOs can create what we now need: communities for citizens and especially for highly educated knowledge-workers, who increasingly dominate developed societies.
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“Managing in the Next Society” (1999)

'Managing in the Next Society', Book by Peter Drucker In his first major book since The Post-Capitalist Society, Drucker discusses the new paradigms of management “how they have changed and will continue to change our basic assumptions about the practices and principles of management. Drucker analyzes the new realities of strategy, shows how to be a leader in periods of change, and explains the “New Information Revolution,” discussing the information an executive needs and the information an executive owes. He also examines knowledge-worker productivity, and shows that changes in the basic attitude of individuals and organizations, as well as structural changes in work itself, are needed for increased productivity. Finally, Drucker addresses the ultimate challenge of managing oneself while meeting the demands on the individual during a longer working life and in an ever-changing workplace.
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“The Daily Drucker” (2002)

'The Daily Drucker', Book by Peter Drucker Revered management thinker Peter F. Drucker is our trusted guide in this thoughtful, day-by-day companion that offers his penetrating and practical wisdom. Amid the multiple pressures of our daily work lives, The Daily Drucker provides the inspiration and advice to meet the many challenges we face. With his trademark clarity, vision, and humanity, Drucker sets out his ideas on a broad swath of key topics, from time management, to innovation, to outsourcing, providing useful insights for each day of the year. These 366 daily readings have been harvested from Drucker’s lifetime of work. At the bottom of each page, the reader will find an action point that spells out exactly how to put Drucker’s ideas into practice. It is as if the wisest and most action-oriented management consultant in the world is in the room, offering his timeless gems of advice. The Daily Drucker is for anyone who seeks to understand and put to use Drucker’s powerful words and ideas.
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“The Effective Executive in Action” (2004)

'The Effective Executive in Action', Book by Peter Drucker The Effective Executive in Action is a journal based on Peter F. Drucker’s classic and preeminent work on management and effectiveness “The Effective Executive“. Here Drucker and Maciariello provide executives, managers, and knowledge workers with a guide to effective action “the central theme of Drucker’s work. The authors take more than one hundred readings from Drucker’s classic work, update them, and provide provocative questions to ponder and actions to take in order to improve your own work. Also included in this journal is a space for you to record your thoughts for later review and reflection. “The Effective Executive in Action” will teach you how to be a better leader and how to lead according to the five main pillars of Drucker’s leadership philosophy.
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“Managing Oneself” (2007)

'Managing Oneself', Book by Peter Drucker We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: with ambition, drive, and talent, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession regardless of where you started out. However, with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today are not managing their knowledge workers’ careers. Instead, you must be your own chief executive officer. That means it is up to you to carve out your place in the world and know when to change course. In addition, it is up to you to keep yourself engaged and productive during a career that may span some 50 years. In Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker explains how to do it. The keys: Cultivate a deep understanding of yourself by identifying your most valuable strengths and most dangerous weaknesses. Articulate how you learn and work with others and what your most deeply held values are. Describe the type of work environment where you can make the greatest contribution. Only when you operate with a combination of your strengths and self-knowledge can you achieve true and lasting excellence. Managing Oneself identifies the probing questions you need to ask to gain the insights essential for taking charge of your career.
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Anthologies by Peter Drucker

“The Essential Drucker” (2001)

The Essential Drucker', Anthology by Peter Drucker The Essential Drucker offers, in Drucker’s words, “a coherent and fairly comprehensive ‘Introduction to Management’ and gives an overview of my management work and thus answers the question I’ve been asked again and again: ‘Which writings is Essential?’ The book contains twenty-six selections on management in the organization, management and the individual, and management in society. It covers the basic principles and concerns of management and its problems, challenges, and opportunities, giving managers, executives, and professionals the tools to perform the tasks that the economy and society of today and tomorrow will demand of them.
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“A Functioning Society” (2003)

A Functioning Society', Anthology by Peter Drucker In these essays, Drucker has brought together selections from his vast writings on community, society, and the political structure. Drucker’s primary concern is with a functioning society in which the individual has status and function. Parts I and II identify the institutions that could recreate community, the collapse of which produced totalitarianism in Europe. These selections were written during World War II. Part III deals with the limits of governmental competence in the social and economic realm. This section is concerned with the differences between big government and effective government.
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Novels by Peter Drucker

“The Last of All Possible Worlds” (1982)

The Last of All Possible Worlds', Novel by Peter Drucker This novel occurs in the world of upper-class European society of the transitional age just before World War I. At the center of this novel are the lives of four distinguished Europeans who reach their later years around the turn-of-the-century.

  • The aristocratic Polish Prince Sobieski, a wealthy landowner, businessperson, and the Austro-Hungarian diplomat to Great Britain
  • McGregor Hinton, a mathematics historian and an immensely successful banker, who faces an ethical crisis and reviews his life, his poor beginnings, his noble secret marriage to a prostitute after she bore his deformed child, and his brushes with aristocracy.
  • A wealthy Jewish banker Julius von Mosenthal is planning a major restructuring of a bank while ruminating on the future meeting with partners Hinton and Sobieski
  • Baroness Rafaela Wald-Reifnitz—descended from the purest Sephardic Jews, painted by two great artists, devoted to music, in love with her problematic husband Arthur.
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“The Temptation to Do Good” (1984)

The Temptation to Do Good', Novel by Peter Drucker “The Temptation to Do Good”, like “The Last of all Possible Worlds”, is outstanding and brilliant. They are very important additions to Peter Drucker’s outstanding and comprehensive picture of management thinking and practice. The Temptation to Do Good features Father Heinz Zimmerman, the President of a Catholic university. Father Zimmerman faces all of the leadership challenges common to nonprofit CEOs: budgets, donors, staff conflicts, board members, and ethical issues. If you’d add to the mix student and faculty and their expectations, you’ll come to appreciate the sense and purpose of an organization more.
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Love of Parents and Love of God: Sense of Security

Love of Parents and Love of God Sense of Security

The sense of security is an indispensable need for emotional health. We need to feel secure on several practical dimensions: financial, physical, social, interpersonal, & emotional. We also need to feel secure at a much deeper level—this is called existential insecurity.

The question to ponder is, what is it that can make a person feel secure and protected in the world? Our parents have often been held responsible for developing it in us. The love of a father and a mother creates in the child the feeling of being wanted, filling the child’s world with warmth and loving kindness. In this manner is engendered the sense of security which we all need for a happy response to the rigorous demands of everyday living.

There is no uncertainty that parental love will add to the child’s feeling of security in the world, particularly for the very young child. Yet parental love is an inadequate anchor for emotional security. For our parents are worldly and mortal, and we are bound to lose them. And even while we have them, they do not always offer us enough anchorage in life, for as we grow in emotional and worldly perception, we comprehend that our parents are but finite creatures. We are limited in the resources of wisdom and strength with which to support our own lives. We need another love to bolster parental love if we are to have durable sources of security for living.

The love which time cannot undermine, and which is available to under-gird us in our need for feeling at home in the world, is the love of God. The Holy Quran (2:165) says, “Yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides God, as equal (with God): They love them as they should love God. But those of Faith are overflowing in their love for God.”

One who recognizes God’s love is psychologically prepared for the arduous business of living. For His sense of security is based on unwavering foundations. The Holy Bible says, “The steadfast love of God endures all the day” (Psalm 52:1.)

During what periods of your life have you felt secure and insecure? How have you learned to live with a certain degree of existential insecurity?

Warren Buffett’s Opening Statement at Salomon Brothers Testimony

In 1991, Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers was embroiled in a bond-rigging scandal. U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary Mike Basham ascertained that, between December 1990 and May 1991, Salomon Brothers’ trader Paul Mozer had dishonestly been submitting false bids to purchase more Treasury bonds than a limit imposed per buyer. Salomon was fined $290 million for this breach of rules.

Warren Buffett was the largest investor in Salomon Brothers during the days of this Salomon scandal. Warren Buffett took the helm as chairman and chief executive of the embattled company for an annual salary of $1.

Here is Warren Buffett’s opening statement before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives:

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before this subcommittee. I would like to start by apologizing for the acts that have brought us here. The nation has a right to expect its rules and laws to be obeyed. And at Salomon, certain of these were broken. Almost all of Salomon’s 8,000 employees regret this as deeply as I do. And I apologize on their behalf as well as mine.

My job is to deal with both the past and the future. The past actions of Salomon are presently causing our 8,000 employees and their families to bear a stain. Virtually all of these employees are hardworking, able and honest. I want to find out exactly what happened in the past so that this stain is borne by the guilty few and removed from the innocent. To help do this, I promise to you, Mr. Chairman, and to the American people, Salomon’s wholehearted cooperation with all authorities. These authorities have the power of subpoena, the ability to immunize witnesses, and the power to prosecute for perjury. Our internal investigation has not had these tools. We welcome their use.

As to the future, the submission to this subcommittee details actions that I believe will make Salomon the leader within the financial services industry in controls and compliance procedures. But in the end, the spirit about compliance is as important or more so than words about compliance. I want the right words and I want the full range of internal controls. But I also have asked every Salomon employee to be his or her own compliance officer. After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper, to be read by their spouses, children, and friends, with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter. If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless.

'Liar's Poker' by Michael Lewis (ISBN 039333869X) Recommended Reading: Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis, an autobiographical account of Michael Lewis’s own experience as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers where the Liar’s Poker is a figure of speech for the Salomon culture of intense risk-taking with immediate payoffs.

Dave Packard’s 11 Simple Rules

Hewlett Packard: David Packard and William Hewlett

Dave Packard, along with Bill Hewlett, friend and fellow graduate of electrical engineering from Stanford University, started Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packard’s Palo Alto garage with an initial capital investment of US$538. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard are known for their legendary people-oriented management style and community consciousness.

Below are eleven simple rules that reflected Dave Packard’s philosophy of work and life. These rules were first presented by Dave Packard at HP’s second annual management conference in 1958 in Sonoma, California. A memo containing these seven simple rules was discovered in Dave’s correspondence file.

  • 'Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company' by Michael S. Malone (ISBN 1591841526) Think first of the other fellow. This is THE foundation—the first requisite—for getting along with others. And it is the one truly difficult accomplishment you must make. Gaining this, the rest will be “a breeze.”
  • Build up the other person’s sense of importance. When we make the other person seem less important, we frustrate one of his deepest urges. Allow him to feel equality or superiority, and we can easily get along with him.
  • Respect the other man’s personality rights. Respect as something sacred the other fellow’s right to be different from you. No two personalities are ever molded by precisely the same forces.
  • Give sincere appreciation. If we think someone has done a thing well, we should never hesitate to let him know it. WARNING: This does not mean promiscuous use of obvious flattery. Flattery with most intelligent people gets exactly the reaction it deserves—contempt for the egotistical “phony” who stoops to it.
  • Eliminate the negative. Criticism seldom does what its user intends, for it invariably causes resentment. The tiniest bit of disapproval can sometimes cause a resentment which will rankle—to your disadvantage—for years.
  • Avoid openly trying to reform people. Every man knows he is imperfect, but he doesn’t want someone else trying to correct his faults. If you want to improve a person, help him to embrace a higher working goal—a standard, an ideal—and he will do his own “making over” far more effectively than you can do it for him.
  • 'The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company' by David Packard (ISBN 887307477) Try to understand the other person. How would you react to similar circumstances? When you begin to see the “whys” of him you can’t help but get along better with him.
  • Check first impressions. We are especially prone to dislike some people on first sight because of some vague resemblance (of which we are usually unaware) to someone else whom we have had reason to dislike. Follow Abraham Lincoln’s famous self-instruction: “I do not like that man; therefore I shall get to know him better.”
  • Take care with the little details. Watch your smile, your tone of voice, how you use your eyes, the way you greet people, the use of nicknames and remembering faces, names and dates. Little things add polish to your skill in dealing with people. Constantly, deliberately think of them until they become a natural part of your personality.
  • Develop genuine interest in people. You cannot successfully apply the foregoing suggestions unless you have a sincere desire to like, respect and be helpful to others. Conversely, you cannot build genuine interest in people until you have experienced the pleasure of working with them in an atmosphere characterized by mutual liking and respect.
  • Keep it up. That’s all—just keep it up!

For Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard’s legendary management style and the history of Hewlett Packard, read ‘Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company’ by Michael S. Malone and ‘The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company’ by David Packard.

Source: HP Retiree Website

What Makes Good People Do Bad Things? The Roots of Unethical Behaviour in Life and Work

The Root Cause of Unethical Behavior

The memory of ethics catastrophes at firms large and small like Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Hewlett-Packard elevated public bitterness toward corporate executives as never before. Unethical behavior has spoiled the public’s conviction about the inherent goodness in people and spawned charges for more government oversight of private industry.

In free societies, many people identify with Milton Friedman’s laissez faire principle that if society lets its people pursue their personal and professional interests in the context of a capitalistic framework to operate without restraint, positive principled intentions and ethical consequences will naturally ensue. On the contrary, it turns out that most people unaware of the divergence between how ethical people think they are and how ethical they actually are.

Why do people behave unethically? Why do some employees engage in unethical acts such as lying on an expense account, accepting kickbacks, falsifying reports, and forging signatures? One or more of these root cause factors might be at play in unethical behavior:

  • Poor ethical leadership
  • Poor communications
  • Pressure to balance work and family
  • Pressure to meet sales or profit goals
  • Lack of management support
  • Resentment to the workplace and retaliation
  • Company policies
  • Little or no recognition of achievements
  • Long work hours, heavy workload
  • Personal financial worries
  • Insufficient resources

In the modern societies, with eroding adherence to personal and societal values, the temptation to behave in unethical ways is not going to go away. As young professionals go into business today, the enticement to evade ethics is mounting. We live in a time of deep obligation on individuals and organizations to cut corners, pursue their own personal and professional interests, and forget about the consequences of their behavior on others.