all the gurus

Every year’s end we are overwhelmed with all sorts of “toptens”. I loooove this one :

Thinker’s 50 - The world’s most important and influential business people.
How incredibly cool can it be to have your business card say “thinker”?! I can’t make up my mind if it’s better than Alain Thys’s business card which proudly states “storyteller”. It’s true! Heard it from the man himself at a conference this year.

This year’s #1 is CK Prahalad, indian of origin. (I’ve always thought India is much more powerful than they would have the rest of the world believe.)

I believe he deserves indeed the first place for trying to cast the focus away from the luxury niches , from that all mighty consumer who can carry you with him to his glory if only you could come up with another “need” he doesn’t know yet must be fulfilled. And fulfill it for him. Instead, he makes an argument that “the bottom of the pyramid”, the poor of the world are a market as well and quite a large one which companies have ignored and mistaken about. A market where growth can exist and prosperity is not so far away.

Another important issue he argues is the misunderstanding of globalization and the “new” pro-active consumer by companies worldwide and consequently the opportunities not taken.

source of picture

I’m also happy to say that #2 in line is our favorite all time hero/bad-guy Bill Gates!
You can also find old Mr. Kotler at #8.

WARNING! Be very careful on how you interpret a top where Donald Trump ranks is 20! That’s right Mr. Personal-Branding-and-Real-Hestate-Guru himself above Steve Jobs! (I won’t even mention Thomas Friedman and the others below…)

Oh well… gotta go now brainwash my little sister into becoming a THINKER! It’s too late for me…

via.