The ‘Second Curve’ in Life and Business
 

This year’s Drucker Challenge is dedicated to the memory of social philosopher Charles Handy, who passed away in December 2024. Inspired by Peter Drucker and an influential management thinker himself, he shared his wisdom and insights at successive editions of the Global Peter Drucker Forum from its launch in 2009.
 

One of Handy's central insights was that life and business seldom follow a straight, predictable path. As he explained in his book The Second Curve, success relies on recognizing when a current growth cycle nears its peak and preparing for the next. This concept applies across careers, organizations, and societies, as well as in personal lives, where transitions often require courage and reflection to embrace new opportunities. The 2025 Global Peter Drucker Challenge Essay Contest celebrates Handy’s enduring insights, inviting participants to explore how the Second Curve philosophy helps address and navigate change.

Whether addressing professional shifts, organizational challenges, or personal reinvention, writers are encouraged to consider the value of a calm, focused management – grounded principles like Stoic philosophy - to overcome barriers and foster meaningful transformation.
 

By learning to pivot at the right moment and leveraging lessons from past successes, individuals and organizations can ensure resilience and growth. The Second Curve is both a challenge and an opportunity—a call to shape the future while still building on today’s momentum.
 

Give us your ideas and reflections on personal and/or professional experience with the Second Curve. Show if and how this concept can be of value to our lives and our business. When drafting your essay please consider the topic-related questions below:
 

• Why is it important to start a new curve before the old one ends?

• How can individuals identify the right moment to transition to their Second Curve, be it in life or at work?

• What kind of mindset and competences does it take to choose the right moment to embrace change and new opportunities in your personal and/or professional life?

• How can the Second Curve concept help with personal growth?

• How can Stoic or any other philosophy, concept or set of principles, be of value here?
   

You might want to share your personal story if you feel it would inspire others. Or take your essay into wider territory. For example, can you perceive any outside factors like culture and societal constraints that affect the ability to embrace the Second Curve? Is there an organization you have seen mastering the cycles of growth and renewal? If so, tell us what that example might mean for the rest of us.

The suggested questions are meant to trigger the thinking process, not to be exhaustive. While you can write to one of these questions, you may also craft a question or an essay title of your own choosing that fits within the larger theme.

Keen to participate? Declare your interest here

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