Giants

“If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants.”
~ Sir Isaac Newton

Over the years my work has been inspired and informed by a number of great men – and women. I dedicate this page to them.


 Bill Deming
 Eli Goldratt  Russell Ackoff Peter Drucker 
 Donella Meadows  O Sensei  Taiichi Ohno
 Peter Senge  Allen C Ward  Margaret Wheatley
 Michael Kennedy Patrick Lencioni  George Leonard
Mohandas K Gandhi John Seddon Steve McConnell
 Tom Gilb P Grant Rule  David Bohm
 Martin Seligman  Sir Ken Robinson  Don Reinertsen
Marshall Rosenberg  Edward de Bono FeynmanRichard Feynman
Photo of Jerry WeinbergJerry Weinberg Photo of Alfred KorzybskiAlfred Korzybski BuckyR. Buckminster Fuller
Crosby photo 6Philip B. Crosby Mary Parker Follett photoMary Parker Follett
Who are your “Giants”? Please leave a comment.
And although this collection presents folks who have influenced, inspired and informed me personally,  please let me know if you think I missed anyone, and I’ll update.
– Bob
29 comments
    • Chris Argyris, Donald Schon, and now Roger Schwarz
      Martin Luther King, Jr. (who was influenced by Gandhi but had his own distinct approach)
      Mother Theresa
      Morton Deutsch
      David Cooperrider
      Bill Torbert
      Joe Juran

  1. paulboos said:

    How about Virginia Satir?

    • Not a giant for me. Some others may have a different opinion. I certainly appreciate her work and insights.

      – Bob

  2. By any chance have you overlooked Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland, Kent Beck, Karl Popper.
    Or they aren’t your giants?
    I see your difficulty… there are so many giants.

    • Thanks for contributing. Never did like Popper much, although maybe Karl Marx or Carl Rogers might be good additions. The other chaps are all lovely in their own way but not amongst my Giants.

      – Bob

    • YES! Bob, can Imagine this being on of yours as well.
      Also, Henri Bertoft and Ian Parker could be or become giants of yours.

      Philipp

    • Thanks for the suggestion. I can understand why you might propose him. And indeed his writings have provided me with much inspiration, not to mention happiness. Insights though? Not so much.

      So for me a borderline case.

      – Bob

  3. Bob could I nominate Dee Hock for his work on chaordic worlds and how he’s strived to make a real difference!

  4. and that out of all of the folk here he did actually build a trillion dollar business with a different mindset and perspective in its early days

  5. Paul Hookham said:

    Tony Robbins, Watts Humphrey

  6. John said:

    How about Gregory Bateson or Michael Polanyi?

  7. So very happy you included Morihei Ueshiba. His student Akira Tohei came to Chicago to start the very first Aikido federation in the U.S. One of his students is my instructor in Kansas City. Humbled to have the Aikikai lineage here where I live.

  8. Jeff Loeb said:

    Fernando Flores
    Edgar Schein

    • Thanks for the suggestion. I cite Douglas McGregor often, but he doesn’t quite make my list of greats, mainly because so few people act on his insights. Not his fault, I know.

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