Managing the Non-Profit Organization

現代管理學之父 Peter Drucker 在今年十一月十一日去世，享年九十五歲。我對管理學沒有特別興趣，不過，因Drucker去世的消息，很多書局自然把他的著作擺在顯眼位置，居然被我發現了一本名為Managing the Non-Profit Organization的書。

Peter Drucker果然是大師級人馬，書中對非牟利組織的管理問題有深入的分析。我也是在非牟利、非政府組織工作，現摘錄特別有共鳴的章節如下：

When effective non-profit leaders have the capacity to maintain their personality and individuality, even though they are totally dedicated, the task will go on after them. They also have a human existence outside the task. Otherwise they do things for personal aggrandizement, in the belief that this furthers the cause. They become self-centered and vain. And above all, they become jealous. (p20-21)

I would not want any person to give his or her life to an organization. One gives one’s very best efforts. (p.21)

Your first constituency in fund development is your own board. (p. 56)

…the old–type board, the board that simply was in sympathy with the institution, is no longer enough. You need a board that takes an active lead in raising money, whose members give both of themselves and by being fund-raisers fund developers. (p.56)

There are always so many more moral causes to be served than we have resources for that the non-profit institution has a duty-toward its donors, toward its customers, and toward, and toward its own staff-to allocate its scarce resource for results rather than to squander them on being righteous. (p.112)

Dissent…is essential for effective decision making. Feuding and bickering are not. In fact, they must not be tolerated. They destroy the spirit of an organization. (p.114)

Don’t tolerate discourtesy. (p.114)

One learns to be courteous –it is needed to enable different people who don’t like each other to work together. Good causes do not excuse bad manners. Bad manners rub people raw; they do leave permanent scar. (p.114)

A board that understands its real obligations and set goals for its own performance won’t meddle. (p. 158)

I rarely have seen a truly strong board in co-ops…Problems are likely to arise on these boards, such as the troublemakers who abuse the board to create a political platform for themselves or just to hear themselves talk.

我也有很多朋友做NGO，以前做記者時也聽過很多組織內鬥的故事。我一直也以為是華人喜歡內鬥，看了Drucker的書，才知能是組織的問題。