The Practice of Management by Peter F. Drucker
This book was written in the 1950's. At the time, the concepts of management espoused by Peter Drucker were revolutionary - the result of study and observation post WW-II and his first hand observation of the failure of pure command and control management.
If you are new to the topic, Drucker's work is an important foundation for modern management techniques. His observations and insights are as relevant to the human psychology, the practice of management and the theory of business today as they were 60 years ago.
Having said that, the book is merely foundational and background now. The modern manager has largely been trained, thanks to Drucker, in his management paradigm. As a result, the trained manager will find some useful nuggets, some interesting observations, and about 400 pages of what is now "common sense management". The revolution of the 1950's is largely in the past today. The book is less useful or revolutionary today for a manager than it was 60, or even 20 years ago. And for that, Drucker should be commended. However, it makes it tougher to recommend the book for more than a reader who is more interested in the background/foundation it espouses than someone looking for new ideas or fresh thinking.
There is a lot of self-centered managers thinking they are very good, but in reality they are below average human beings both intellectually and ethically. There are also many managers that are good people and try to do their best. I think all managers belonging to the latter category should read this 60 year old book. Drucker wanted managers to contribute to humanity by being good managers. I would say that it is inspirational to read Drucker's words knowing that they were written such a long time ago. The book is written in a very engaging manner and is not what you would expect for such an old book. Managers today struggle with pretty much the same issues as identified in this book. This is not to say that this book contains everything, but by reading it, you realise how much useless or fluffy stuff is written in many current management books.
