A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

DRUCKER IN THE CLASSROOM ■ 13
Most professors would definitely turn their noses up at a professional
book like <strong>Drucker</strong>’s, even if it met their length requirements, because it
was not academic. And his idea of concentrating on one section per
course would be equally frowned upon. However, to me, the value of
Peter’s classic book is immeasurable.
<strong>Drucker</strong> the Rebel
<strong>Drucker</strong> was a man of great courage in his thinking, writing, and in his
teaching, and not only in his unorthodox use of the same book for many
courses. As a result, though he made unequaled contributions to management
thinking in the 20th and 21st centuries, he was frequently
ignored, and shockingly, even ridiculed by some fellow academics. Much
of this was pure jealousy, but it has a basis in the type of research an academic
is expected to do and how he is supposed to disseminate the
results of his research.
Peter frequently said, “The corporation is my laboratory.” He meant
that he observed what was going on in a company or companies, analyzed
what happened, and drew relevant conclusions which he published in a
way that could be understood and put to use by management practitioners.
Most academics didn’t buy that. To them, there is only one kind of
research: scientific research based on mostly quantitative methods. This
research is disseminated by publishing in “the scientific journals” of business,
not by books or practitioner-read journals like The Harvard Business
Review or The Wall Street Journal. Moreover, these “scientific” articles are
not written for practitioners, but for fellow academics. <strong>Drucker</strong> was an
academic, but he wrote for practitioners, and he wrote to be understood.
Many academics didn’t like it and resented his success.
I didn’t realize the prejudice in the academic community against
<strong>Drucker</strong> until I began to interview for an academic position. When some
professors <strong>with</strong> whom I interviewed learned that I had studied under
<strong>Drucker</strong>, they let loose <strong>with</strong> a variety of snide comments. I remember one
senior professor at a mid-level university telling me, “If <strong>Drucker</strong> were
interviewing for a job here, we might be willing to offer him a junior level
position.” This comment originated from a professor who had contributed
little, if anything, to management thinking and development. I could
barely control my anger, and it must have been noticeable. I did not
receive an offer from that particular university. Well-known business