Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker

My Rating: 7 / 10

Thinking of learning more about being an entrepreneur or how to innovate then looking no further than a book from Drucker; always a safe bet. I have read many Drucker books given his ability to take complicated theory and massage it into bite sized concepts that make sense and resonate in the business world.

This book is no different as it comes jam packed with great information. Even though it is a little lengthy and carries some age, “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” covers the practices of innovation, entrepreneurship and finally on entrepreneurial strategies. For example the book was written in 1993 yet discusses in depth the concept of technology and the knowledge worker and how this is key for innovation today.

What makes this book unique is that Drucker takes a leaf out of his own approach. He states that innovation needs some process and structure in place for an organisation to flourish. Looking at the present vs. the future, specifically at incongruities is key and that they do not present themselves always as quantitative outputs but rather qualitative outputs.

Three key takeaways from the book:

1. There is no greater resource in an economy than “Purchasing Power”, however purchasing power is the creation of the innovating entrepreneur.
2. Entrepreneurship is behaviour rather than a personality trait. And its foundation lies in concept and theory rather than in intuition.
3. Don’t try to innovate for the future, innovate for the present! (Drucker at his best with that succinct takeaway)