Thankfully I'm not a movie star celebrity but every once in a while I wonder what it might be like to attend the Oscar's or Golden Globe Awards ceremonies.
What happens when arguably the most famous people on the planet are in the same room?
Imagine something more important. Imagine an event that is doing a lot more good for society than the entertainment industry's annual schmooze fest.
On November 13, 2017 in London the world's most influential and inspiring management thinkers were in the same room for an entire day and evening. It was the 9th installment of the Thinkers50 Gala, a biennial gathering of leading management thinkers. Every two years, the organization known as Thinkers50 hosts a gathering of great business minds for a day of debate, discussion and networking. It is followed by an evening awards ceremony celebrating the very best in management thinking where various awards are handed out, including a listing of—you guessed it—the top 50 thinkers from across the planet. My schedule finally allowed the opportunity to attend.
For me it was Christmas morning.
Look, over there is Dorie Clark, author of Stand Out, Reinventing You and Entrepreneurial You. "Hi Dorie, I love your work. Nice to meet you." Next to her is Susan David, originator of "emotional agility." I first discovered Susan's incredible insights via Twitter. We then met on a mutual Facebook group. And now, I'm sitting beside her sharing thoughts and jokes over tea.
"Hey David Burkus," I yelled as I approached the author of Under New Management. "Funny seeing you here." We had never met face-to-face. In the corner of my eye, I then saw someone walking up to my left. It was none other than Tim Kastelle, the brightest of lights from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. We hugged it out. Tim's work and thinking on strategy and innovation has influenced me greatly.
Officially the morning started at 9:45am when the founders of Thinkers50, Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove, took to the stage and introduced the agenda. First up was an interactive discussion between none other than Tom Peters and Nilofer Merchant. A dynamic duo of thinking.
If you are a management thinker like me, sitting in on a session with Tom Peters is always a treat. Not only have I learned from his past writing, I have become more honest in my public keynotes and panels as a result of watching him over the years. And Tom is as honest as it comes when on stage. True to form, Tom unleashed several truth-bombs on stage at Thinkers50. "Can we drop the word 'talent' and replace it with 'people?' he implored. Later he encouraged us to study and highlight small and medium-sized businesses only. "Who cares what the big enterprises are doing," he said. "Boring!"
Seemingly a friend to all, Nilofer rightly bashed the 'bro culture' of Silicon Valley. Nilofer said much of our problems with trust are emanating from a lack of diverse thinking coming out of "Shallow Alto." When she asked the entire auditorium if they trusted Facebook, not a single hand went up. Afterwards the always glowing Nilofer gave me a giant hug. I am still indebted to her for the wonderful foreword she penned for my second book.
The middle of the day was interspersed with a couple of breaks, lunch and various panels and breakout sessions. There were loads of opportunities to meet new thinkers and old friends. A highlight included the exchange between Whitney Johnson, Daniel Pink and Gianpiero Petriglieri. Another was learning about the wonderful work going on in South Africa. Louise van Rhyn gave a talk that filled my heart with joy. Imagine planting executives into under-resourced schools to learn from principals, educators and school children about their difficulties. Imagine the reciprocal learning that the administrators and educators receive from the executive? The program is called Partners for Possibility and it was inspiring to say the least.
As day turned to night, business casual wear turned to formal gowns and black ties as the awards ceremony commenced.
What I assume to be a high class act of respect, the Lifetime Achievement Award was handed out before a drop of food was placed onto a plate. Past winners have included Ikujiro Nonaka as well as my friend, fellow Canadian Henry Mintzberg. This year the award was presented to Tom Peters. Who was on hand to introduce Tom? Oh my, none other than one of my management thinking heroes, the legendary Charles Handy, also a recipient of the award back in 2011.
His speech to introduce Tom was poignant, touching and incredibly heartfelt. It itself was worth the price of admission. Harvard Business Review editor, Sarah Green Carmichael, said "Charles Handy gave Tom Peters the nicest lifetime achievement award speech any of us could ever dream of. To have such a person say such lovely things is an achievement in itself!"
And then Tom launched into another one of his legendary, off-the-cuff talks that was both historical, hysterical and topical.
After dinner, Stuart and Des reappeared on stage to begin announcing winners of eight Distinguished Achievement Awards.
Wouldn't you know it, friends Susan David and Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez nabbed the Breakthrough Idea and Ideas into Practice awards respectively. Other winners included Don and Alex Tapscott for Digital Thinking, Scott Anthony for Innovation, Hal Gregersen for Leadership, Amy Webb for Radar, Richard D’Aveni for Strategy and Amy Edmundson for Talent.
The climax to the entire day was now upon us. The top thinkers were about to be announced in reverse order, starting at number ten. What was a very jovial room became whisper quiet as Stuart and Des began the countdown.
#10 - Rita McGrath
#9 - Richard D’Aveni
#8 - Adam Grant
#7 - Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
#6 - Marshall Goldsmith
#5 - Michael Porter
#4 - W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne
#3 - Clayton Christensen
#2 - Don Tapscott
And then I knew. I had hoped and wished for it to happen, and it did.
A man who has taken me under his wing on several occasions had won the coveted top spot. A man whom I have looked up to for just over a decade was the #1 management thinker for 2017. A man who consciously chose to abandon running a lucrative consulting firm in America to re-engineer how management education ought to be conducted, back in Canada no less, doing so at a fraction of his previous salary. A man who once said to me, "I like your work, Dan, but this one needs some help. Meet me in San Francisco and we'll spend a day or two sorting it out." No money exchanged hands.
That man was, and is, my friend, Roger Martin.
A Canadian, a mentor to many, a thoughtful and respectful man, and now occupant of the the #1 Thinkers50 spot. In true Canadian fashion, he thanked those that have helped him along the way. He ended, however, thanking Stuart and Des and reminding everyone how important the Thinkers50 event and organization really is. Without it, the vehicle to assimilate management thinking (and thinkers) would not be there. I couldn't agree more. Hat tip to Stuart and Des.
Maybe the world needs more Canada. For now it has Roger in the top management thinking spot.
The Thinkers50 event wasn't the Oscars.
It was a sea of management thinking humanity.
I hope to be back in 2019.
