Power of the Unexpected

09/25/2006

One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.
Malala Yousafzai

Management guru Peter Drucker talks about taking advantage of the unexpected in The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done (New York: HarperBusiness, 2004). In part he observes…

“Fifty years ago, a friend and mentor invented a system used in a big company that has become very successful…. Every manager, down to the first line supervisor, sits down every month and writes a letter with one subject — the unexpected. Not what went right or what went wrong, but the unexpected. Then they have a meeting and ask, “Does this tell us something?” The great majority of surprises don’t, but there are usually three or four that are relevant.

“And out of this, the company — a pharmaceuticals company — has grown from a fairly unimportant producer to one of the world’s leaders. And it has come out of surprises, like when a physician prescribes a medication for what it was not originally developed for and has amazing results. You have to focus on success, especially unexpected success, and run with it.”

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