A review by ali_ikhan
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker

4.0

I think if you're here and reading this review, you already know who Ducker was and why his books are recommended so strongly for professionals. Therefore I'll not write anything about how good this book is and why it should be read, instead, I would just clarify something that got me confused too until I read this book, and that is who the EXECUTIVE is?

Usually executive is thought of as somebody in senior managerial or leadership position, and that is NOT what Ducker meant in the title of this book. Ducker's executive is a 'Knowledge Worker'. So if you are a programmer, designer, accountant, engineer, teacher etc., you are an Executive, as per Ducker. So think of the title of the book as THE EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE WORKER.

See, this makes all the difference. And that is why, I deferred reading this book so many times in my career and now that I read it, I felt I should have read this book lot earlier. Therefore I'd recommend even if you are a junior knowledge worker, to read this book and try to internalize it. Though most of the examples in the book have aged, wisdom is really timeless.