Drucker's claim that effectiveness can be learned is more radical than it reads

Written in 1966, the argument is that effectiveness is a set of practices rather than a personality trait, and therefore teachable. Most management writing since has quietly assumed the opposite while claiming otherwise.

The specific practices hold up unusually well: know where your time actually goes rather than where you think it goes, focus on contribution rather than effort, make few decisions at a high level rather than many small ones.

The part that has aged is the assumption of a stable organisation with clear boundaries. Drucker's executive knows what their job is. Much modern knowledge work does not come with that clarity, and deciding what the job is has become the harder problem.

Does the time log still work? Has anyone actually run one for a week and been surprised?