Continuing Inc’s A-Z of Peter Drucker we come to D & E!

D for Decentralization:

Little fish learn to be big fish in little ponds. Drucker favored decentralized organizations because they create small pools in which employees gain satisfaction by witnessing the fruits of their efforts, and nascent leaders can make mistakes without bringing down the business. When Drucker laid out these ideas in the mid-1940s, the command-and-controllers who dominated corporations were not amused. Today, of course, “stovepipe” organizations–those that remain–are widely maligned for their failure to make the most of human and information resources.

E for Effectiveness:

Perhaps the most revelatory insight in the history of time management tore the bottom out of Frederick Taylor’s time-and-motion studies: “Efficiency is doing things right,” Drucker wrote in The Effective Executive. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” What’s true for individual managers is also true for organizations, which often squander time and resources trying to improve processes for products not worth producing. The solution? See “abandonment,” above.

So, is your business decentralized and effective?

The picture? Sunset over Victoria Falls