The purpose of an organization is to enable ordinary humans beings to do extraordinary things.
Peter DruckerRead
One can either work or meet. One cannot do both at the same time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
You can focus on either work or meetings, but not both simultaneously.
Peter Drucker's quote emphasizes the importance of focus and the limitations of multitasking. It suggests that to be effective, one must prioritize their tasks, as attempting to engage in both work and meetings at once can lead to diminished productivity and inefficiency.
Themes
FocusProductivityMeetingsWorkEfficiency
In practice
Example use cases
In a team meeting to discuss project priorities, I would share this quote to highlight the need for focused discussions.
More from Peter Drucker
All quotes βIn the Western tradition, we have focused on teaching as a skill and forgotten what Socrates knew: teaching is a gift, learning is a skill.
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We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.
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The basic economic resource - the means of production -_x000D_ _x000D_ is no longer capital, nor natural resources, nor labor._x000D_ _x000D_ It is and will be knowledge.
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Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans.
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The strength of the computer lies in its being a logic machine. It does precisely what it is programed to do. This makes it fast and precise. It also makes it a total moron; for logic is essentially stupid.
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