Peter Drucker died in his sleep on Nov. 11, a few days before his 96th birthday. Over the years, many top executives followed his advice and leveraged it into tremendous success.

And his advice lives on for executives to use as they build their companies. Even executives at high-tech companies or who manage technology departments can learn from this man who lived most of his life before the personal computer was invented.

For the last six months, I've been reading daily (or almost daily) from "The Daily Drucker" (Harper Business), gaining insight into the many ways that Professor Drucker taught both leaders and his students at Claremont University. It's the only book that I keep on my desk. That way I can read a chapter and think about his theories while my computer boots every morning. Digesting Professor Drucker's insights one per day is an excellent way to put them in play.

The last book Professor Drucker released before his death was "The Effective Executive in Action" (Collins Business), a workbook to help you apply his principles to your company. Each principle takes about two pages. First the principle is stated followed by a quote from one of his previous books. These descriptions are followed by a question related to the principle, then a space to answer how it applies to your organization. Finally, there's a place to outline the actions that you will take to follow the principle. In essence, it's a management workbook.

One of the amazing things about Professor Drucker's teachings is that the broad concepts he discusses are widely applicable to almost every business -- and that they are universally good for the business using them and for the world at the same time.

Books for techies
Readers often want to know what books I recommend -- or what I'm reading, especially on technical subjects. So I'll try to share some with you more often. One of my more useful acquisitions has been "Windows XP Hacks" by Preston Gralla (O'Reilly). The subtitle correctly identifies what is inside the covers: "100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools."

The hacks presented by Mr. Gralla cover a broad range of Windows XP aspects, from the basic interface to system performance hacks and working in the registry (the program area that personalizes the system based on your needs and what you have loaded).

A thorough read will help you remove unruly applications, save streaming music and speed up your system. Like many O'Reilly books, this one is not aimed at novices or users who are shy about typing commands. It's a great read for advanced users, and will help you tame Windows XP on your own desktop and for others who work with you.

Another good book in O'Reilly's "Hacks" series is "Wireless Hacks" by Rob Flickenger. If you're tired of trying to figure out the difference between all those Wi-Fi standards with 902.11 in the name, this is the book for you -- again, if you feel your technical oats; not for the novice.

eBay for novices
There also are a number of books I like that are intended for the technically challenged. "The e-Auction Insider" by Dave Taylor and Susan Clooney (Osborne) is full of hints, such as locating the perfect item on eBay and negotiating for the best price. While it's ancient by tech-book standards, it holds up well for anybody interested in auction buying or selling -- even if they merely want to hone their skills.