Who is the most influential living management thinker? That was the simple question that inspired the original Thinkers 50 in 2001. A lot of hard work and number-crunching later, the answer became the first global ranking of business gurus. So says Stuart Crainer. I first met Stuart ten years or so ago in Europe. He later interviewed me for a section of a book called "Business, The Universe & Everything". The subtitle of the book is "Conversations With The World’s Greatest Management Thinkers". The interview was called "John Patrick: The Attitude Thing" and is in the chapter called "Selling the Future". Ok, guilty as charged.
Stuart has since worked with the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), to create a definitive bi-annual guide which lists "thinkers and ideas". I don’t think of myself in the same league as many of the others in the list of nominees but if you are so inclined feel free to cast a vote.