"I need Pompey's legions."

I was watching a movie about Julius Caesar. In one of the scenes, the yet-to-be-famous Julius was watching the adulations of the crowd given to Pompey. And he said with a sense of destiny, "I need Pompey's legions." It was a pivotal moment in the life of Julius Caesar to have made such a declaration.

And I agree with him. A man of ambition needs an organization. (Of course, I'm still against him. After all, I am Hannibal—a Carthaginian. And I swore never to be a friend of the Romans. Read Harold Lamb's 1958 account of my life, Hannibal: One Man Against Rome. Although I was there on the battlefields, I still read the book. Who wouldn't? It says on the cover: The violent, exciting saga of the great Carthaginian who shook the mighty walls of ancient Rome. I just couldn't resist reading about myself after that.) Anyway, back to reality.

In his 1966 book, The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker wrote about making strength productive. To him,

Organization is the specific instrument to make human strengths redound to performance while human weakness is neutralized and largely rendered harmless.

It's been 20 years now since I decided to start my own software company. Two bankrupties later (and maybe a third in the offing), I'm still not fully operational. Why has it taken me this long? It was necessary to delay everything because I discovered something 10 years ago. I realized that an organization needs to be fed, maintained or kept supplied with provisions. This is not about payroll. It is something else.

It's about innovation. One innovation will not sustain an organization. A series of innovations is more appropriate. In Peter Drucker's words, we need to conduct systematic innovation. It is only the innovator who makes the profits.

Knowing how to innovate systematically, I can now build my organization in earnest. Now, I can mobilize.
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* This blog is the practicum part of studying Peter Drucker and will mainly focus on the creation and maintenance of organizations.