Excerpt From The Daily Drucker September 21 “Widow-Maker Positions,” Peter F. Drucker with Joseph A. Maciariello

(edited for clarity)

“Widow-maker” is the term that nineteenth-century New England shipbuilders used to describe a well-built new ship that still managed to have two fatal accidents in a row.

Instead of attempting to fix the problems with the ship, they immediately broke it up to prevent another accident.

In organizations, a widow-maker is a job that defeats two competent people in a row.

It will almost certainly defeat a third one, no matter how competent.

The only thing to do is to abolish the widow-maker position and restructure the work.”

Reader, today in 2021 I was yearning for a “widow maker” job.

I remembered all the time I spent doing: marching band, short films, PA gigs, emailing job posts, something I have not done in almost 4 years down “the academic route” at Per Scholas.

By design, I seem to be a teacher.

I would not say a “thought leader,” but I am very thoughtful.

And sometimes, my thoughts drive me absolutely crazy.

Did people ever say you or your ideas were “crazy,” Reader?

You assuage those people, perhaps even yourself, by trying to sound smart.

Heated arguments? Of course.

But never let an argument push you to take a widow-maker job.

I have heard it said, as a joke, that divorce and promotion often go hand in hand.

Not intentionally, but they do. In very intense careers especially.

I would avoid those sorts of jobs, or perhaps restructure them.

ACTION POINT: Eliminate the “widow-maker” positions at your firm