The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials)
by Peter F. Drucker
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Designer and writer
American entrepreneur, investor
American Internet entrepreneur
American businessman and author
Recommended by 12 notable people, including Tim Ferriss and Nat Eliason
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See customer reviews on Amazon →Drucker delivers a lecture-like, unsentimental read that strips effectiveness to five habits: tracking time, focusing outward, leveraging strengths, prioritizing ruthlessly, and systematic decisions. The useful part is redirecting attention from busyness to contribution—a productivity audit for your role. The annoyance: dated offices, a dry tone, and some oversimplification of how to apply ideas in flat, digital organizations. Still, a clarifying jolt if you need a mental reset, but many will find it too abstract for immediate action.
This summary and audience guidance are AI-generated from the book's description and its recommendation history, last updated May 2026. Recommendations, quotes and sources elsewhere on this page come from published material and are not generated.
A handsome, commemorative edition of Peter F. Drucker’s timeless classic work on leadership and management, with a foreword by Jim Collins. What makes an effective executive? For decades, Peter F. Drucker was widely regarded as "the dean of this country’s business and management philosophers" (Wall Street Journal). In this concise and brilliant work, he looks to the most influential position in management—the executive. The measure of the executive, Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive…
Difficulty:hard
Length:212 pages (Short)
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View available editions on AmazonWhy recommended
Recommended by 19 sources and appears in Best Productivity Books, Best Leadership Books, and Books Recommended by Tim Ferriss.
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Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
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Best Productivity Books
Topic22 books
Best Leadership Books
Topic98 books
Most Recommended Books
Curated5676 books
Books Recommended by Tim Ferriss
Category75 books
Books Recommended by Writers
Category75 books
Books Recommended by Founders
Category75 books
Management
Category139 books
Leadership
Category256 books
Consider The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. Recommended by 60 sources.
“A blunt, conversational tour through the worst parts of building a company. Horowitz shares personal stories from his own startup failures and recoveries, offering practical wisdom on layoffs, pivots, CEO loneliness, and managing when times are bad. The value is in the honest, experience-based insight you won't get from business school. The limitation is its narrow focus on venture-backed tech startups—if you're not in that world, some advice may feel irrelevant. Reads like a wise mentor telling you what nobody else will.”
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
