The New Realities

by Peter F. Drucker

Even in the flattest landscape there are passes where the road first climbs to a peak and then descends into a new valley. Most of these passes are simply topography with little or no difference in climate, language, or culture between the valleys on either side. But some passes are they are true divides. History too knows such divides. Once these divides have been crossed, the social and political landscape changes; the social and political climate is different, and so is the social and political language. Some time between 1965 and 1973 we passed over such a divide and entered "the next century." Challenging, insightful, and provocative, Peter Drucker's The New Realities anticipates the central issues of a rapidly changing world. When it was initially published, in 1989, some reviewers mistakenly thought The New Realities was a book about the future, or in other words, a series of predictions. But, as indicated in the title, the book discusses realities . Drucker argues that events of the next thirty to forty years, or even further on, had already largely been defined by events of the previous half-century. Thus, Drucker discusses episodes in world history that had not yet happened at the time of the book's initial publication, such the archaism of the hope for "salvation by society" in "The End of FDR's America"; the democratization of the Soviet Union in "When the Russian Empire is Gone"; the technology boom of the 1990s in "The Information-Based Organization"; and the evolution of management in "Management as Social Function and Liberal Art." Graced with a new preface by the author that discusses both reactions to the original publication of the book and how important it is for decision-makers to consider the past and present when planning for the future, The New Realities is mandatory reading for understanding politics, government, the economy, information technology, and business in an ever-changing world.

Genres: Business, Management, Leadership, Nonfiction, Economics, Political Science

276 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

Peter Ferdinand Drucker was a writer, management consultant and university professor. His writing focused on management-related literature. Peter Drucker made famous the term knowledge worker and is thought to have unknowingly ushered in the knowledge economy, which effectively challenges Karl Marx's world-view of the political economy. George Orwell credits Peter Drucker as one of the only writers to predict the German-Soviet Pact of 1939.

The son of a high level civil servant in the Habsburg empire, Drucker was born in the chocolate capital of Austria, in a small village named Kaasgraben (now a suburb of Vienna, part of the 19th district, Döbling). Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, there were few opportunities for employment in Vienna so after finishing school he went to Germany, first working in banking and then in journalism. While in Germany, he earned a doctorate in International Law. The rise of Nazism forced him to leave Germany in 1933. After spending four years in London, in 1937 he moved permanently to the United States, where he became a university professor as well as a freelance writer and business guru. In 1943 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at New York University as a Professor of Management from 1950 to 1971. From 1971 to his death he was the Clarke Professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Reviews

[Danijela Jerković]

The New Realities...

The book is not about what is needed to be done tomorrow.
The book is about what is needed to be done today bearing in mind tomorrow - the future.


Aspects tackled in the New Realities:
1. The frame of political reality
2. State and political process
3. Economy, ecology and economics
4. Knowledge society
5. Conclusion: A new view of the world


The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.”
~ Thomas S. Monson


Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
~Albert Einstein


Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.
~George Santayana, writer and philosopher

[MisterFweem · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated. It just really felt dated. Like when he suggested "facsimilies" were going to be the wave of the future of communication.

And I struggled to read this. I think in part because the book couldn't quite decide what it wanted to be. It's not a business book. It's not a book of philosophy. It's just a book with little thoughts in it.

[Samet Yemisli · Rating 3 out of 5]

He says J.F. Kenedy did nothing for 3 years 🙄. But everybody liked him. I am not supporting this idea Mr. Kenedy did lots of things for USA in 3 years.

[sheilabeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro explica unos conceptos históricos desde una óptica de empresario. Para quien quiera explorar el mundo expresarial y de negocio, se lo recomiendo. Aporta mucho a entender cómo, en parte, surgieron todos esto movimientos neoliberales que nos afectan hoy.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Preston Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[Dwight Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of world economy changes and geopolitical instability creating new economy. Knowledge economy is covered quite well.