Leveraging the Strengths of the Disabled

When the House passed legislation in late June that expanded protections for disabled people, it marked an important step forward on an important issue. But what the workplace needs, even more than a new law, is an old insight—one first offered by Peter Drucker more than 40 years ago.

“To make strength productive is the unique purpose of organization,” Drucker wrote in his 1967 classic, The Effective Executive. “It cannot, of course, overcome the weaknesses with which each of us is abundantly endowed. But it can make them irrelevant.”

This holds true for everyone, of course. As Drucker noted, “Strong people always have strong weaknesses too. Where there are peaks, there are valleys. And no one is strong in many areas. Measured against the universe of human knowledge, experience, and abilities, even the greatest genius would have to be rated a total failure. There is no such thing as a ‘good man.’ Good for what? is the question.”