Kindle
$9.00
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Paperback
$11.49
Audio CD
$38.26
Buy new:
$11.49
FREE delivery: Thursday, April 25 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
List Price: $20.00 Details

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $8.51 (43%)
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, April 25 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 23. Order within 19 hrs 17 mins
In Stock
$$11.49 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$11.49
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Thursday, April 25 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 23. Order within 19 hrs 17 mins
Used: Very Good | Details
Sold by Jenson Books Inc
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Nice clean copy with no highlighting or writing. We take pride in our accurate descriptions. Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime.

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Learn more about the program.

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Peter F. Drucker
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization Paperback – April 18, 2008

4.5 out of 5 stars 324
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$11.49","priceAmount":11.49,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"49","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"dXGUDimBO6W3nAgpolrB3iMePSaf5fO7MjWrGYSMlqcaZNQt3E4ar8CXtYnbAdosQUpFZyctVrNvMwTX6aAhPvuofyMpVWezM%2FgQiki6P%2B1Glaft7HX2YkXF22bUjCEyLoEO48zOHLI%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$5.78","priceAmount":5.78,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"5","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"78","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"dXGUDimBO6W3nAgpolrB3iMePSaf5fO71Y4pnXpNLu70DdeS3UjjtR7e9wSZhg%2BlPCHS9vjuuo9f1B3HG9X1SbfaUPuKYXuwP7va0q7bJHg0x5nhUe53fYc%2BA0aQo3JjMye5jCwQMKoQTZm7zGbtNU4H0nh4xbSpodqMew7e3hghbTVbGaDKQKdYFAEGTtDi","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons
With Peter Drucker's five essential questions and the help of five of today's thought leaders, this little book will challenge readers to take a close look at the very heart of their organizations and what drives them. A tool for self-assessment and transformation, answering these five questions will fundamentally change the way you work, helping you lead your organization to an exceptional level of performance.

Peter Drucker's five questions are:

  • What is our Mission? with Jim Collins
  • Who is our Customer? with Phil Kotler
  • What does the Customer Value? with Jim Kouzes
  • What are our Results? with Judith Rodin
  • What is our Plan? with V. Kasturi Rangan

These essential questions, grounded in Peter Drucker's theories of management, will take readers on a exploration of organizational and personal self-discovery, giving them a means to assess how to be--how to develop quality, character, mind-set, values and courage. The questions lead to action. By asking these questions, readers can focus on why they are doing what they are doing in their work, and how to do it better. Designed for today's busy professionals, this brief, clear and accessible book will challenge readers to ask these provocative questions and it will stimulate spirited discussions and action within any organization, inspiring positive change and new levels of excellence, helping all to envision the future of theirs' or any organization.

Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum
  2. Print length
    144 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Jossey-Bass
  5. Publication date
    April 18, 2008
  6. Dimensions
    5.4 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780470227565
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0470227565
  9. See all details
Next page
Books with Buzz
Books with Buzz
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more

Frequently bought together

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization
$11.49
Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Practice of Management
$10.99
Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials)
$11.36
Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I rarely read long tomes of hundreds of pages but this book is great; it’s short and sharp and is good practical brain food.” (B2B Marketing, October 2015)

From the Inside Flap

With Peter Drucker's five essential questions and the help of five of today's thought leaders, this little book will challenge readers to take a close look at the very heart of their organizations and what drives them. A tool for self-assessment and transformation, answering these five questions will fundamentally change the way you work, helping you lead your organization to an exceptional level of performance.

PRAISE FOR The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization

"The Leader to Leader Institute has done a great service in bringing us this monograph. Good leaders come up with answers, but great leaders ask the right questions—and this wonderful work helps all leaders do exactly that."
—Jim Collins, author, Good to Great and the Social Sectors

"An amazing resource that can help even the most successful organizations become more successful!"
—Marshall Goldsmith, author, What Got You Here Won't Get You There, winner of the Harold Longman Best Business Book of 2007

"Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions continue to be the indispensable questions an organization must ask itself, regardless of size or sector, if it is determined to be an organization of the future."
—Kathy Cloninger, CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA

"At a time when the need for more effective management and more ethical leadership is the moral equivalent of global warming, Drucker's common sense and courage should be modeled by everyone."
—Ira A. Jackson, dean, Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, and board member, The Drucker Institute

"Nobody, not even Socrates, has ever asked better questions than Peter Drucker. All the personality, all the wisdom is here to make your work dramatically more effective."
—Bob Buford, author, Halftime and Finishing Well, and founding chairman, Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0470227567
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jossey-Bass; 58270th edition (April 18, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780470227565
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470227565
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 324

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Peter F. Drucker

Peter F. Drucker
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) was considered the top management thinker of his time. He authored over 25 books, with his first, The End of Economic Man published in 1939. His ideas have had an enormous impact on shaping the modern corporation. One of his most famous disciples alive today is Jack Welch. He was a teacher, philosopher, reporter and consultant.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
324 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Andrew Everett
5.0 out of 5 stars Nonprofit planning: strengthen what works, abandon what does not
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
This book offers a strategic planning framework for nonprofit organizations. It can help board members set the direction by asking five questions:

What is our mission? The mission must reflect opportunities, competence, and commitment. Drucker cautions: “Never subordinate the mission in order to get money. If there are opportunities that threaten the integrity of the organization, you must say no.”

Who is our customer? “The primary customer is the person whose life is changed through your work... Primary customers may be infants, or endangered species, or members of a future generation.” Drucker notes that customer needs evolve. “And there are customers you should stop serving because the organization has filled a need, because people can be better served elsewhere, or because you are not producing results.” Philip Kotler adds, “Our business is not to casually please everyone, but to deeply please our target customers.”

What does the customer value? “Leadership should not even try to guess the answers but should always go to the customers in a systematic quest for those answers… People are so convinced they are doing the right things and so committed to their cause that they come to see the institution as an end in itself. But that’s a bureaucracy.”

What are our results? “Look at short-term accomplishments and long-term change… One of the most important questions for leadership is, Do we produce results that are sufficiently outstanding for us to justify putting our resources in this area?”

What is our plan? “The plan begins with a mission. It ends with action steps and a budget … If you have more than five goals, you have none… Goals make it absolutely clear where you will concentrate resources for results… Goals flow from mission, aim the organization where it must go, build on strength, address opportunity, and taken together, outline your desired future.” The board should set the direction, but not micromanage: “The board must not act at the level of tactical planning, or it interferes with management’s vital ability to be flexible in how goals are achieved.”

“Ask of any program, system, or customer group, ‘If we were not committed to this today, would we go into it?’ If the answer is no, say ‘How can we get out—fast?’… Planning is not an event. It is the continuous process of strengthening what works and abandoning what does not.”

Peter Drucker wrote the first edition in 1993. This edition is supplemented with chapters by Jim Collins, Philip Kotler, James Kouzes, Judith Rodin, V. Kasturi Rangan, and Frances Hesselbein. There is also a section with more detailed questions organized in subcategories under the five main questions. In total the book is about 100 pages.
22 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Joshua Lee Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Questions to Continually Revisit with Your Organization
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2013
Verified Purchase
Peter F. Drucker has been an incredible influence on me. Not only am I an admirer of his seminal work in management but also the good he advocated in his consulting service with many social sector institutions. This most recent edition of his "The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization" is like having Drucker sitting right next to you, offering his sage advice on effectiveness. In addition to Peter's writings, are chapter insights offered by leadership experts such as Frances Hesselbein, Jim Collins, and James Kouzes among others.

Drucker's Five questions are: What is our mission? Who is our customer? What does the customer value? What are our results? And, what is our plan? Though they may seem simple, an adequate answer to each should take much time and thoughtful consideration among your organizations leadership, staff, board, and customer response. All answers should also lead to action and then again assessment, asking more questions, and more answers with action and so on. The distinction between primary and secondary customers and discussion on measuring changed lives quantitatively and qualitatively is far worth the price of the book for anybody who works in the nonprofit world.

I have used these questions to direct the birth of my first organization this year as a catalytic leader, and also as a consultant and coach to several first time business owners. I have family in politics, peers in ministry, and entrepreneurial friends, all of which have benefited from working through the self-assessment process this book offers. As Drucker states; "Properly carried through, self-assessment develops skill, competence, and commitment. Active and attentive participation is an opportunity to enhance your vision and to shape the future" (p. 85).
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report
Victoria Belke
4.0 out of 5 stars Purchased as a gift
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2024
Verified Purchase
The packaging was great, and no flaws on the book.
Helpful
Report
John W. Pearson
5.0 out of 5 stars Planning Is Not an Event
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2008
Verified Purchase
The first edition of Peter Drucker's self-assessment tool for organizations arrived in 1993 and introduced these five key questions: 1) What is our mission? 2) Who is our customer? 3) What does the customer value? 4) What are our results? and 5) What is our plan?

This supplementary tool (just 101 easy-reading pages) includes expanded observations from Drucker along with color commentary from six distinguished management gurus, including Jim Collins, Philip Kotler, James Kouzes, Judith Rodin (Rockefeller Foundation president), V. Kasturi Rangan (Harvard Business School), and Frances Hesselbein (chairman of Leader to Leader Institute and former CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA).

Referring to Question #5 on planning, Drucker comments, "Planning is not an event. It is the continuous process of strengthening what works and abandoning what does not, of making risk-taking decisions with the greatest knowledge of their potential effect, of setting objectives, appraising performance and results through systematic feedback, and making ongoing adjustments as conditions change."

Peter Drucker says that one benefit of a self-assessment process is that you can evaluate how you match opportunities with your competence and commitment. And he adds that the time to do a self-assessment is when you are successful, not when your leading indicators are lagging.

This is a helpful new resource for all of us. If you've ordered my new book,  Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit , be sure to read the first four chapters (buckets) that expand on the five Drucker questions: the Results Bucket, the Customer Bucket, the Strategy Bucket and the Drucker Bucket.
35 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
anonimo
3.0 out of 5 stars Un classico, peccato per le condizioni
Reviewed in Italy on August 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
Il libro è un classico e lo consiglio. Peccato che sia arrivato con la copertina rovinatano non dal trasportatore ma proprio dal magazzino, con la pellicola che si solleva. Per un libro nuovo non è accettabile
Customer image
anonimo
3.0 out of 5 stars Un classico, peccato per le condizioni
Reviewed in Italy on August 17, 2021
Il libro è un classico e lo consiglio. Peccato che sia arrivato con la copertina rovinatano non dal trasportatore ma proprio dal magazzino, con la pellicola che si solleva. Per un libro nuovo non è accettabile
Images in this review
Customer image
Report
Richard Kies
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read
Reviewed in Canada on February 7, 2018
Verified Purchase
Concise but insightful book, a must-read for any leader in a charity of non-profit organization
Report
CHETANKUMAR
5.0 out of 5 stars Ec
Reviewed in India on July 29, 2019
Verified Purchase
It's wonderful...
One person found this helpful
Report
Peter de Toma sen.
5.0 out of 5 stars Peter F. Drucker: The Five Most Important Questions - revisited 2015
Reviewed in Germany on December 13, 2015
Verified Purchase
Frances Hesselbein wrote in the Foreword: 'If Peter Drucker were with you and your organization today, we believe he would ask the same questions of you that he asked more than fifteen years ago:

What is our mission?
Who is our customer?
What does the customer value?
What are your results?
What is our plan?'

Peter Drucker passed away on November 11th, 2005, eight days before his 96th birthday.

He started to focus on these questions already more than fifty years ago when he published his classic book 'The Practice of Management' (1954).

In his Chapter 5 'What is a Business?' he explained 'The Purpose of a Business
If we want to know what a business is we have to start with its purpose. And its purpose must lie outside of the business itself. In fact, it must lie in society since a business enterprise is an organ of society. There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.' (Pg. 37).

On page 38 Peter Drucker wrote:
'The first man to see marketing clearly as the unique and central function of the business enterprise, and the creation of a customer as the specific job of management, was Cyrus McCormick. The history books mention only that he invented a mechanical harvester. But he also invented the basic tools of modern marketing: market research and market analysis, the concept of market standing, modern pricing policies, the modern service-salesman, parts and service supply to the customer and installment credit. He is truly the father of business management. And he had done all this by 1850. It was not until fifty years later, however, that he was widely imitated even in his own country.'

In Chapter 8 'Today's Decisions for Tomorrow's Results' he described the essence of planning while 'Making Decisions' is explained in Chapter 28.

Very often only the vocabulary is changing ' purpose becomes mission, decisions for tomorrow's results becomes planning ' while the essence is the same.

'Managing for Results' published by Peter Drucker in 1964 'was the first book to describe what is now widely called 'business strategy' and to identify what are now called an organization's 'core competencies'' (see 'Management' revised edition by Peter Drucker revised and updated by Joseph A. Maciariello, published in 2008 Pg. 539).

For further details about Cyrus McCormick I refer to the following books:
'Cyrus Hall McCormick ' His Life and Work' by Herbert N. Casson in 1909 and
'The Century of the Reaper' by Cyrus McCormick, his grandson, published in 1931;

The beauty of this small book "The Five Most Important Questions" combined with the 'Participant Workbook ' The Five most important questions Self-Assessment Tool' published in 2010 is its simplicity and 'ease of use'.

Whenever a business start-up is initiated or an existing business is reviewed, the start should be 'The Five Most Important Questions you will ever ask about your organization."

Starting with these key questions and answering them sufficiently before entering into comprehensive strategic planning will save your very valuable time and money.

Henry Mintzberg in his excellent book 'Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning' published in 1994 wrote the following: 'In effect, the strategy making process, whether its strategies are formulated deliberately or just form emergently, must be seen as an impenetrable 'black box' for planning as well as for planners, around which, rather than inside of which, they work." Pg. 331.

Consulting firms and consultants like to elaborate widely and deeply on analyses outside and around the black box called 'Strategy Formation' which is the central task of entrepreneurs and top management.

With Drucker's 'The Five Most Important Questions' you are immediately working within the 'black box' on 'Strategy Formation' without getting lost in endless studies.
Report
James Glass
5.0 out of 5 stars Long term effects of a quick read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is a really worthwhile read. You can get through it in less than an hour, but its ideas might help to shape your thinking for a life time. Refreshing to revisit big ideas simply put.
One person found this helpful
Report