Thuy’s Reviews > The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done > Status Update

"it does not matter how many tantrums a prima donna throws as long as she brings in the customers."

Drucker's nasty sexist attitude makes this book painful to read. Thanks for making the woman a negative example. Jerk.

I disagree that hiring prima donnas makes people great. The toxic ones can poison an entire team, and a team can contribute much more than an individual. "Go alone to go fast. Go together to go far."

"One can either direct a meeting and listen for the important things being said, or one can take part and talk; one cannot do both."

Yep. I prefer to practice my active listening skills in the majority of my meetings. It's the opposite if I have to give a presentation.

Focusing on contribution supplies the 4 basic requirements for effective human relations:
- communication
- teamwork
- self-development
- developing others

Drucker was a strong proponent of good communication skills, it seems.

"It is barbarian arrogance to assume that the layman can or should make the effort to understand him, and that it is enough if the man of knowledge talks to a handful of fellow experts who are his peers."

If you want to be effective, you must concern yourself with the usability of your knowledge. Inability to speak cross-division is bad.

"...every organization needs performance in three main areas: [...] direct results; building of values and their reaffirmation; and building and developing people for tomorrow."

Depriving an org of performance in any one of these areas will cause an organization to "decay and die."

Useless meetings - well this advice is not helpful. All of our team meetings are optional. Even 1:1s can be skipped.

- What do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness?