Peter Drucker, a Pioneer in Social and Management Theory, Is Dead at 95 - New York Times

A great loss of an undisputed leader of management and societal thinking of the Industrial Age. Who will take his place in the Information/Internet Age? Many of his writings and principles are still valid. I remember reading and being deeply impressed by the Age of Social Transformation, a 1994 Atlantic article in which he laid out the revolution underway and the implications to society, workers and management. I thought so much of it, I still have paper copies (grin).

A quote:

"In the knowledge society knowledge for the most part exists only in application. The central work force in the knowledge society will therefore consist of highly specialized people. In fact, it is a mistake to speak of '?generalists.'? What we will increasingly mean by that term is people who have learned how to acquire additional specialties rapidly in order to move from one kind of job to another. But '?generalists'? in the sense in which we used to talk of them are coming to be seen as dilettantes rather than educated people. But knowledge workers, whether their knowledge is primitive or advanced, whether there is a little of it or a great deal, will by definition be specialized. Applied knowledge is effective only when it is specialized.
Indeed, the more highly specialized, the more effective it is. That knowledge in the knowledge society has to be highly specialized to be productive implies two new requirements: that knowledge workers work in teams, and that if knowledge workers are not employees, they must at least be affiliated with an organization. With knowledge work growing increasingly effective as it is increasingly specialized, teams become the work unit rather than the individual himself. Only the organization can convert the specialized knowledge of the knowledge worker into performance."