What Peter Drucker Would Be Reading

Recent selections from around the web that, we think, would have caught Peter Drucker’s eye:

1.  What the Federal Shutdown Means for State and Local Governments: There are lots and lots of articles about the government shutdown, but if you’re looking for a good one-stop account of what the federal impasse means in concrete terms, check out this piece from Governing’s Ryan Holeywell. His rundown notes, for example, that “it’s unlikely that construction on transportation infrastructure would come to a halt,” but “projects that receive funding through some discretionary grants like TIGER could be affected.” Wow. Who knew you could shut down a tiger?

2.  Health Insurance Exchanges Open Tuesday (and Not Much Will Happen): Along with the government shutdown comes the launch of online health insurance exchanges, the government-run marketplaces that allow individuals to purchase coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act. The spotlight is now on this important piece of Obamacare, but Bruce Watson writes at DailyFinance that we shouldn’t get too swept away by hype or early reviews. As he points out, “The much-maligned mandate requiring people to buy their own insurance won’t kick in until January 2014—and the actual deadline for buying 2014 coverage won’t arrive until March 31.”

3.  Was Jesus an Effective Leader? Insights from Reza Aslan’s ‘Zealot’:  In a stimulating interview with business ethics professor G. Richard Shell, Reza Aslan, author of a new book on Jesus, answers some questions about Jesus as a leader. “[Jesus] wasn’t a scribe,” Aslan tells Knowledge@Wharton. “He wasn’t a Pharisee. He wasn’t a priest. He was not learned. He did not talk about the scriptures from a position as an expert. He was not expert in the scriptures. Instead, what he did was talk about the needs of the individuals he was speaking to.”

4.  Dx Comment of the Week: Last week, when we asked why most Americans aren’t passionate about their work, reader Mike Grayson wrote the following:

I am still learning and excited about new technology that seems to pop up every day. I want [to] use my knowledge and resources to help contribute to society. But it did not start with a job; it started with a desire to grow in understanding and knowledge. Jobs come and go, but knowledge is something that nobody can take from you—and it will open doors that you would never have thought possible.