Drucker’s Five Important Questions

The Nonprofit Strategy class I am teaching at Maryland was due to discuss SWOT analysis last night, so it has had me thinking about various assessment tools available for nonprofits.

Peter Drucker spent a great deal of time in his later years working on applications of his management ideas for nonprofits – or, as he called them – social sector organizations.  One of the excellent products of that work is The Five Most Important Questions Self Assessment Tool.  Through this workbook, Drucker takes an organization on a tour of his five most important questions:

*What is Our Mission?

*Who is Our Customer?

*What Does the Customer Value?

*What Are Our Results?

*What is Our Plan?

It’s much more than a self-assessment tool, however.  It is really a guide to helping organizations think through their purpose and performance.  Like most anything these days, the Drucker self-assessment tool is available for purchase on Amazon or from the Leader to Leader Institute which Drucker founded.

Clarity on Drucker’s five most important questions can be of great help to an organization as it designs its strategy and focuses attention on increasing its Mission Impact.