Professional Documents
Culture Documents
through Leadership.
I am Kaustav P.(KP) Chaudhuri, the author. I immersed myself in the corporate world in
my mid 20’s but took some time off to reflect on life after I turned 30. While taking time
off, I got involved with a team of experts drawn from leading Silicon Valley firms who
were writing a book on entrepreneurship and business on behalf of The Indus
Entrepreneur’s(TIE), the largest global network for entrepreneurs. After the publication
of this book, The First Mile(John Wiley&Co) in 2003, I got inspired to write my own
book. As a part of my reflections and meaning making, I read books written by
hundreds of authors from every wisdom tradition ranging from spirituality to philosophy
to classical literature to psychology, many of whom I have quoted in this book. My
purpose is not only to give you the lessons from my experiences but also give you the
distilled essence of wisdom from thousands of books so that you can make meaning of
your experiences and improve upon them without spending tremendous amount of time
reading all these books as I have.
As of now, there are 250 pages in the book of which 150 is my content, 75 is quotations
from all top thinkers throughout the ages and another 25 pages of pictures, diagrams etc. I
am going to add 15 pages of index. Additionally, the last section, which I am including
in this site, consists of about 20 pages of brief explanations about all the thinkers I have
quoted. Please give me your feedback as I want to expand the section and include some
of your points and ideas about the relevance of these thinkers to the context of SEE,
FEEL,ASK, ACT.
It takes approximately 7 months to get the Certificate of Copyright. So I expect this book
to be launched in the 2nd quarter of 2011.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Utilize Imagination and Faith to expand your concept of reality beyond your
Ego
Change begins when we start looking within us and start changing our
mindset
Change the way you look at change and start Transforming yourself
Convert Boredom, Doubt and Fear into curiosity, confidence and enthusiasm
Expand the background of your contexts and gain from inclusive growth
INDEX
Introduction:
Whatever level of success you have achieved in life till now, there exists the
potential for much more. Till now, you have focused on language and words.
Now you are going to go beyond language and unlock the immense potential
of success residing in your ability to see and feel. Once you learn to expand
your consciousness with what you see and feel every moment, your
opinions, judgements and other energy blockages will wither away and you
will be able to ask more empowering questions which, in turn, will make you
act with boldness. You will treat each experience as a crucible to manifest
Leadership. Success is going to be a foregoing conclusion.
Start by controlling your mind from the chatter of thoughts and observe your
experiences as well as the accompanying feelings. Project these experiences
into the future by visualizing the changes you need to initiate in order to
obtain the success you desire. Then, keep your mind in a state of meditation,
clear your inner space and become an instrument of action for your purpose
and intention. Lead by empowering others to do the same. Cultivate a culture
which encourages people to ask questions and seek answers using social
media and then take action and sustain collective motivation over time.
Let me warn you that this is easier said than done. You need to go through
some degree of short term pain and make deep rooted, gut wrenching
changes before you manage to reverse your cycle of decline and put your life
in a virtuous cycle of growth. However, once you improve your habits of
seeing, you will feel strongly about embracing short term pain and
transforming yourself to function at a higher level of energy and strength.
This book will enable you to make your Ego your Slave and use it to serve
you. You will learn to see better options of reality than what your Ego is
letting you see now, as it is vested in your current reality, and then add your
Ego back and aim for the stars. Your Ego will give million excuses,
Remember, Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world in his
late 20’s. The Founders of Google became some of the richest people in the
world by their early 30’s. So, if you have some experience under your belt,
you can be anything you want to be. All you need to do is to re arrange the
existing knowledge in your mind, and dredge the silts from the channels of
knowledge from what you see and what you feel a.k.a the wisdom of your
body. Once you do that and Lead others to do that, you are going to start
looking at reality as half full and your newly evolved seeing and feeling
enriched concepts will throw up non habitual modes of asking questions
which will give birth to conviction and confidence in taking decisive action.
The ability to think is like the software of your mind. The ability to see as well
as take in inputs from our other senses like taste and touch is like hardware.
Our hardware has become defective over the years and hence, we are not
being able to utilize the full potential of our software. If your keyboard is
defective and your printer has run out of ink, will you be able to submit your
term paper and pass your course even though you know all the answers? This
problem is enhanced since you don’t know that your hardware is defective;
becoming aware of the fact that your ability to see and perceive has not
developed properly is the first step in removing the obstacles which come in
way of harnessing the full power of your thoughts. This book should help you
take charge of the operating system of your mind and make your
software(thoughts) and hardware(perception) work in harmony, balance and
unity.
Normally, you should be able to constantly weave what you see and feel into
the fabric of your thoughts so that you can manifest visualized thought forms
of mental energy which is best described by the Buddhist word tulpa
.However, in most cases, you fail to do so. Hence, you do not take in visual
and other inputs from our senses into our thoughts. You get trapped in your
thoughts and are unable to utilize the full potential of your ability to think.
The job of a leader, therefore, is to develop the ability to see beyond the
limitations of our normal reality and envision a better future. You are often
unable to see the opportunities in your present not because they are not
there but due to forming bad seeing habits. Once you start tapping into the
power of your vision by learning to see with foresight, you will feel fresh
energy and excitement and will be able to motivate yourself and others to
act decisively and create success.
So start feeling excited about noticing things. You will start observing things
which were below your level of awareness before. Be intrigued that someone
as smart as you was overlooking the most obvious things till now. These new
feelings will create curiosity in your mind and make you ask more
empowering questions, sharpen your judgement and lead you to take better
decisions.
Even though our early childhood experiences form the basis of our mental
concepts, over the years, our concept formation gets dominated by our
language.In order to attain and sustain the level of success you deserve, you
need to learn how to empty your mind from the chatter of verbal thoughts
and restore what you SEE and FEEL as the basis of your concepts. Then you
restore language and use it as a tool to ASK empowering questions; decisive
ACTion will follow.
When you learn to see deeper and beyond what meets your eyes, what you
see changes. When you see that you have more possibilities than what you
had imagined before, you feel excited. Once you convert your feelings to
images and the express the images into their corresponding words, the range
of your questions expands. You not only can ask better questions, you start
asking questions about hitherto unknown/ unconscious areas of your mind
and the quality of your thinking improves. You finally manage the clear the
debris from your mental pathways which convert thoughts into actions and
your new, liberated thoughts lead to greater intensity of actions and these
actions further lead to the expansion of your though process.
Additionally, you need to rescue the most important process in your mind
from energy blockage and entropy so that energy gets converted to
information which literally means energy in formation . This process is that
for every word you hear you ought to be able to generate a corresponding
(visual) image. The fragments of these images give birth to imagination,
with which you can consciously shape your perception into a very optimistic
worldview(lens) to view reality, for yourself and your followers.
Mantra(spoken word),
Why Rules and not steps or other corresponding words: “Rule” is not a “verbal formula”. Rule
involves seeing what it is to follow a rule. Merely thinking does not lead to rule-following. You
need to make a conscious effort to SEE how the rule needs to be followed and FEEL the
necessity of following the rule and ASK new questions on how to follow the rule. So basically
RULES involve incorporating non-verbal elements in your thinking in a systematic and logical
manner.
Your old ways of leading life is not going to give you the success you deserve. Even if you get
lucky and become successful sometimes, you may not be able to sustain the success over a
period of time. Making incremental change will not suffice; you need to transform yourself by
changing how you SEE, FEEL, ASK (questions) and ACT and enable others to do so also; in
short, you need to activate the gift of leadership which you are born
“Are you a leader or a follower by nature?” Ask this question to people around you. Most people
will say that they are a leader. That is because, Leadership is our basic nature and we need to
tap into this nature within us. Once you stop thinking about yourselves and look at the problems
and miseries of others and start behaving like a Leader, you will start having the success you
deserve. You don’t need formal authority to become a Leader. Just start acting like a Leader and
Leadership will emerge from within you.
The essence of Leadership is about creating and sustaining higher degrees of Order(termed
Ecological Order) out of seeming chaos. In order to sustain Ecological Order(see pages .. and
..more explanations), you need to utilize the gifts which our evolution has endowed you with; you
need to SEE(use perception), FEEL and ASK(better questions) so that you can ACT with
success. So take charge of your ecosystem and seize Leadership now.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
B. Explanation to the picture( Pyramid with a single, open eye in which there is a
picture of the symbol OM)
Look at the reverse side of a one dollar bill. You will see a pyramid inscribed by a
single, open eye. If you look closely enough, you will see that there is an important
addition to the picture on the one dollar bill; within the single, open eye, we have
inserted the symbol of AUM(see page … for further explanations) or unity as the
ultimate aim of this book is to enable you to be very successful by creating unity
with your thoughts, perceptions, feelings and actions.
Below the pyramid is inscribed the motto, Novus ordo seclorum (Latin for "New
Order of the Ages) which is adapted from the writings of Virgil.
This pyramid represents the process of building our society which is still
continuing. The all-seeing eye stands for the wisdom needed to build and
sustain an enlightened society. Once the infinite, all-seeing capacity of your
metaphoric third eye opens up, you will be able to tap into the natural
wisdom of the universe which is inherent in you and start become the Leader
of your enlightened society, be it your company, your group or your family.
Just the belief that you are going to become a leader from this moment
onwards will set in forth events which will self reinforce and will transform
you into a leader. So take the first step by believing that you are already a
Leader and start behaving like one and the rest will follow.
We are conditioned from childhood to rely on other people for most things; be
it advice, motivation or support. Freudian theories say that such dependence
is rooted in our early childhood experiences when we were hapless babies
and we needed to be totally dependent on our parents. Hence, we became
dependent or addicted to the opinions, theories and approvals of others.
You need to realize that no person, however brilliant, can enter your mind
and heart simultaneously and give you better advice than you can give
yourself. So give up the illusion of gaining confidence from others and
become your own guru and learn to look into your own mind by beaming the
light of attention to the hitherto dark areas.
Learn to form different theories for different occasions of your life. According to Karl
Popper, philosopher of science, a good theory is one which either has been proved
false or is rigorously open to challenges to being proved false. He considers Newtonian
physics to be a good theory as it has been proved false and Marxism a bad theory as it
can’t be proved false. Hence, there is no absolutely truth or “ one size fits all” theory in
life. Cultivate a wardrobe of empowering theories and utilize whichever suits you.
Begin by observing your past experiences and developing hindsight. The images of
your experiences will combine with the knowledge in your mind and give birth to
insight. Then project these insights forward in time and construct alternate theories
of future possibilities. When you map emotional tags of your experiences with these
future possibilities, you will give birth to foresight, the fountainhead of wisdom.
Free yourself from the illusion of knowledge; realize that you have to go beyond
knowledge to be successful in the world. In fact, in Indian philosophy, the word used to
describe Unity is advaidya, which means the opposite of knowledge. So, success comes
from uniting knowledge with elements like dreams and desires which are considered
outside or beyond knowledge.
For our knowledge to lead to success and happiness, we need to learn how to acquire and
discard(aka unlearn) knowledge at will; we need to make our experience the foundation
of our knowledge. Do not take your knowledge for granted. You need to sow the seeds of
doubt and acquire the habit of shaking the trunk of the tree of knowledge so that the
apples of insight fall on your head and give you an occasional wake up call from your
false sense of certainty.
During the harsh reality of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr Martin Luther King
could see beyond what met normal sight by tapping Imagination and Faith.
So could Gandhi, so could Sam Walton, founder of WalMart or Ray Kroc,
founder of McDonald and so can you. A big portion of reality resides in your
mind and Imagination and Faith are the technologies you have in your
disposal to look beyond your normal reality and see the vision of future
greatness. To accomplish this, you need to look at reality without the filter of
your Ego and then restore the Ego and think big.
Your Ego can be of 3 types--- weak, dominant or healthy. If you have a weak
Ego, you really need to overcome such a weakness as it will be very difficult
to achieve much success. If you have a dominant Ego, you probably will
achieve some success and then falter. If you have a healthy Ego, then you
have the right attitude for success. Hence, in order to set the stage for
success, you need to convert a weak or dominant ego into a healthy ego and
sustain it.
I have made ample use of literature and poetry to illustrate key ideas in this
book. Literature and poetry appeals not only to our mind but also to our
heart. It enriches us by making us see beauty and have faith and hope for
the future. It opens the door of our potential. It is only through Imagination that you
can break away from the limitations of the present and create greater reality for yourself. To
achieve success through leadership, you need to empower your reality with
your imagination. Once you learn how to unlock the powers of your
imagination, you need to learn how to use your imagination to create a
deeper and more compelling reality.
You also need to have Faith in your future greatness. You can tap into the power of
Faith either through religion or through a personal belief system. Religion is a double
edged sword: On the one hand, most killings and genocide in human history has
been in the name of religion. On the other hand, the mind needs faith and belief to
survive and thrive in an uncertain world and the easiest way for us to tap into this
faith is to believe in religion, as our mind is wired for faith, belief and spirituality.
Religion lets us tap easily into a system which is already in our mind instead of us
having to make a lot of effort and create fresh neural pathways for some other belief
system from scratch. So use religion when you need a “quick fix” of faith and discard
it when it is creating animosity and bitterness.
Another related topic to religion is “Free Will versus Determinism”. Are we free to
shape our destiny or our future is already determined? Maybe, determinism is a good
tool to make meaning for whatever has happened and heal the past. When you look
forward in time, you need to believe that you have Free Will and have control over
future outcome. Essentially, you need to use various spiritual concepts as tools to
empower us and make you very successful and not use them when they are
becoming roadblocks to our success.
Our Brain is wired to ensure survival.. Even though, you know logically that you are
capable of much higher degree of success, your brain keeps you stuck at only the
survival level of success. It does not help, that we get addicted to our body states.
You need to clear energy blockages and go back to those memories of good feelings
from the past. Then look forward in time and feel as if all your dreams and wishes
have come true. Once you start having more satisfying feelings than that you are
currently experiencing, you start rekindling the desire for true change.
You have gone through a lot in life, most of it not in your control. However, you have survived
challenging times. As the quote from iconic Irish writer James Joyce says in the next page,
Hence, congratulate yourself. If you have come so far with after overcoming so much of
obstacles, your journey going forward will be smoother if you really learn from your experiences
and empower your followers to do so also. How about the dark clouds of economic uncertainty
gathering in the horizon? What about joblessness or housing market? Trust me, in every
opportunity there lies a threat and every threat comes with opportunities. A majority of the 30
companies like IBM or P&G which comprises of the S&P Index were formed during economic
downturn. Key is to revive the spirits of yourself and your followers and be excited about taking
action.
So step into a world of wonder and challenge, sharpen your acumen and enjoy the sweet taste of
victory. Share some of your spoils with others and savoir in their success also. So get excited
that you are detoxing yourself and making a clean break with the past. Once you “deep clean”
your mind and restore the normal energy circulation, the natural process of motivation will be
restored. You don’t have to struggle to motivate yourself and others any more. You will start
seeing things in a new light and will acquire the skills to show new paths to success to your
followers. You will feel very enthusiastic and your infectious enthusiasm will stimulate your
followers to action. Naturally, you will start tapping into the fresh energies of curiosity and start
asking more empowering questions. The collective action of yourself and your followers will lead
you to an amazing destiny through an enchanting life experience.
The path to Ecological Order is like a razor’s edge,it takes a lot of pain and effort to
achieve. But the payoff is gigantic, your entire wellbeing and happiness resides in
attaining this state. To begin with, train your eyes and start observing your past
experiences, i.e. how you are creating Adaptive Order in your life right now. Once
you start reframing your past experiences as “disorder” or chaos, you would have
already sown the seeds of creating higher degrees of order.
This higher degree of order lies dormant within us. It is the essence of our being, it
is the intelligence which keeps the planets in motion and makes our heart beat in
clockwork precision. The path to this inner perfection is hidden in chaos.
Management is about creating Adaptive Order; Leadership is about tapping chaos
and creating Ecological Order, which is Order of a higher degree. So what seems to
you as chaos is creative energy waiting to be harnessed.
Our values are what guides our actions in creating Adaptive Order. However, if your
Values are not rooted in universal principles, they can lead to our destruction. To be
“well liked” was the Value of the tragic hero, Willy Lomar, in Arthur Miller’s Death of
a Salesman, and his actions eventually led to his death. Universal principles, which
are rooted in Generative Order, also needs to change along with the passing of time.
The constant work of creating Holistic Order is what will sustain the Ecological Order
and prevent it from regressing back to Adaptive Order.
Notes: We are going to give a brief outline about all the eminent thinkers and
practitioners we have quoted or going to quote along with some further
reference. If you are interested in knowing more about someone, you can
look that person up online.
Introduction:
Robert Frost: Was a famous American poet who was highly regarded for depicting rural
American life in an authentic manner.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Was a famous Russian writer whose greatest works for
his novels Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov(from which
we have quoted extensively in the sub-section on Meaning under Chapter 4).
He is considered to be a major source for the branch of philosophy called
Existentialism and he has been majorly cited by subsequent intellectuals like
Neitsche and Freud.
Joseph Needham: a British academic and sinologist known for his research
and writing on the history of Chinese science. His works are very insightful of
Chinese culture. He wrote Science and Civilization in China among other
books.
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Is an Austrian philosopher who is considered to be the
biggest philosopher of the 20th century. His work centered around the
limitations of our language and sheds light on our perception process. I have
quoted him extensively also.
Charles Handy: Is an Irish writer and philosopher who has been consistently ranked
as one of the most influential Management gurus in the world. He started his career in the
marketing department of Shell Oil Co. His influential books include The Shamrock
Corporation, The Gods of Management and The Hungry Spirit.
Novus ordo seclorum (Latin for "New Order of the Ages): Motto of the United
States.
Virgil was a famous Roman poet of the 1st century B.C. He was known for his famous
works like the Ecologues, the Georgics, and the Aeneid. He was revered in the
Middle ages as Ecologue was considered to be a prophecy for the birth of
Christ.
Alfred North Whitehead: Was a famous British philosopher and mathematician who co-wrote Philosophia
Mathematica with Burtrum Russell.
H.P. Blavatsky: Was the founder of the Theosophy movement. It was possibly
the first school of thought to blend the wisdom of the East and the West.
She,along with her disciple Alice Bailey, has considerably impacted the New
Age Movement. Her books include Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine.
Thomas Jefferson: Was the third President of the United States and was an
influential “founding father”. He was the main author of the Declaration of
Independence. He was responsible for initiating the Louisiana Purchase which
greatly extended the US land mass.
E.O. Wilson: Famous American biologist who propounded the concept of
Sociobiology in his book by the same name. He has talked about how the
human mind is influenced by both genes and culture. Some of his other
influential books include Of Human Nature and Consilence.
Aristotle: Famous Greek philosopher and follower of Plato. He was also the
teacher of Alexander the great.
William Blake: Was a famous British poet and painter. He subscribed to Gnosticism(Christianity
prior to the Catholic Church) and was hostile to the Church of England. He wrote famous poems
like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Jerusalem.
Starhawk: American best selling writer, activist and one of the leading voices of the eco feminist
movement.
James Joyce: Was a famous Irish novelist who wrote the famous trilogy A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
Rumi: Was a famous 13th century Persian poet and mystic. He belonged to the Sufis,
a mystical sect of Islam.
Winston Churchill: British Prime Minister known for his daring leadership during
the 2nd World War. He was also a prolific historian and author who got was
awarded the Noble Prize for literature.
Stephen Hawking; Is a British physicist who has done pioneering work on quantum
gravity and black holes. He is also the author of the popular science bestseller, A
brief history of Time.
Arthur Miller: Was an American playright who wrote classic plays like Death of a Salesman
and The Crucible. He was also married to Marilyn Monroe.
Hegel: Was an influential German philosopher who propounded German Idealism. His work
influenced German nationalism as well as Marxism. He created an elaborate philosophical
system where opposite concepts get finally united(he called it thesis, antithesis and synthesis).
Ovid: Was a Roman poet who wrote several volumes of erotic poetry. He also
wrote the famous poem Metamorphoses.
Ilya Prigogine: Was a famous Russian born Belgium physical chemist who won
the Noble Prize for work on dissipative structures and complex systems. His
work shares great insight on the nature of time and how organisms and
organizations can “self organize”. The books include The End of Certainty.
Hesiod: Was a Greek poet and some of his poems, like Works and Days, had underpinnings of
economics. He composed the epic poem Theogony where he speculated on the origin of the
world and the Gods.
Part A: HOLISTIC ORDER: Expand your thoughts by adding perceptions
Rene Magritte: Was a Belgian surrealist artist whose work challenges peoples
preconceived notions of reality.
Alberto Giacometti: Was a Swiss surrealist sculptor and painter. His created
his sculptures and paintings the way he thought they ought to be seen.
The Rig-Veda: Is one of the four ancient Hindu scriptures called the Vedas. It
is among the most ancient scriptures known to man.
Billy Joel: American musician, pianist and composer who shot into fame with
his first song, The Piano Man.
Anais Nin: Was a French author who was famous for her lifelong journals as
well as for her writings on erotica.
Henry Miller: Was an American novelist and painter. He crafted an unique style in his novels like
Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn where he added elements of autobiography, philosophy etc
George Lakoff: Is an American linguist famous for ideas like metaphor being
central to human thought. He explores a wide range of topics from cognition
to politics in his books like Whose Values and Women, Fire and Dangerous
Things.
Jean Piaget: Was a Swiss psychologist who studied the cognitive behavior of
children and came out with four stages of cognitive development.
Edmund Husserl: German philosopher who was the founder of the school of thought
called phenomenology which believed that experience is the source of all
knowledge. He has influenced, among others Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul
Sartre and Jacques Derrida.
Matthew 6:22-23: Is the first book of the New Testament. It deals with the life,
death and resurrection of Christ.
D.T. Suzuki: Was a Japanese author who played a leading role in popularizing Zen
Buddhism in the West.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: French philosopher and Jesuit priest who came up with a liberal
interpretation of the origin of the cosmos in his book The Phenomenon of Man. His views
upset some of his fellow Jesuits as they were in opposition to the Doctrine of
Original Sin, as propounded by St Augustine, the founder of the Catholic
Church.
Robert Burns: Considered to be the greatest poet of the Scottish language, he was one of the
pioneers of the Romantic Movement in literature.
Carl Jung: Was a Swiss psychiatrist who was originally Freud’s greatest
follower. He eventually broke with Freud and came up with a holistic view of
psychology which incorporated dreams, mythology, religion and other
aspects of our unconscious. We have extensively quoted him in this book.
Edgar allan Poe: Was an American writer and poet of the Romantic movement who is
known for his tales of mystery and gruesomeness.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet who
championed the cause of individualism as opposed to conforming to the
pressures of society.
Malcolm Gladwell: Is a bestselling author who has created an enormous impact on contemporary society
with the bestselling books like Blink and The Tipping Point.
Plutarch: Was a Greek historian and biographer who wrote Parallel Lives and
Moralia. His quest was to highlight the virtues and vices of characters and
their impact on other men.
Ibn Khaldun: Was an Arab intellectual who was born in present day Tunisia. A
wide range of modern day subjects, from Economics to Sociology has been
influenced by his writings.
Fernand Braudel : Was the greatest French historian of the postwar era and a
leader of the Annales School which propounded that large scale socio-
economic factor over a large duration of time is what creates history and not
individuals or isolated events.
Thomas Carlyle: Was a Scottish writer and essayist and the author of "On
Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History". In that book, he talked
about heroic leadership and he compared a wide range of heroes from
William Shakespeare to Prophet Mohammed.
Leo Tolstoy: was a Russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest of
novelists for his masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He ideas of
non-violent resistance has impacted Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Karl Marx: Was a German political philosopher whose ideas in his book, The
Communist Manifesto, gave birth to communism.
Isaiah Berlin: Liberal British philosopher and historian of ideas of the 20th
century who was influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Robert F. Kennedy: Was the US Attorney General during his brother, JFK’s
Presidency. Later on, he was assassinated while he was the Democratic Party
nominee for the Presidency.
Will Durant: Was an American historian who co-wrote The Story of Civilization
along with his wife, Ariel Durant.
Marcus Aurelius: Was a Roman emperor who was also a Stoic philosopher. He
is remembered for having writing Meditations, an early treatise of self
improvement.
Maya Angelou: is an American autobiographer and poet. She is known for her
six autobiographical books, the first of which entitled I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings is the most famous.
Dag Hammerskjold :was a Swedish diplomat and author and wwho became
the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. After his death in a
plane crash, he became the only person to be awarded the Noble Peace Prize
posthumously.
Neils Bohr :was a Danish physicist who won the Noble Prize for his seminal
contributions to quantum mechanics. Heisenberg(see below under Chapter
3) was one of his talented students with whom he had a falling out which has
been brilliantly captured in the musical Copenhagen.
Stephen Covey: Leadership guru who wrote the all time bestseller The Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People.
Percy Bysshe Shelley: Was a famous English Romantic poet who wrote great
poems like Ozymandius and To a Skylark.
Andre Gide: Was a French writer and Noble Prize winner who was very
influential during the time between the two world wars.
P.D. Ouspensky: Was a Russian philosopher who was associated with the
ideas and practices(which he summarizes in his book In Search of the
Miraculous) of controversial Russian teacher, George Gurdjieff. We have also
quoted him at the introduction of Chapter 5. Some of his other books include
Tertium Organon(which has some of the most amazing concepts of time), The
Fourth Way and The New Model of the Universe.
Lee Iacocca: Famous American automobile executive who turned around Chrysler after he was fired
from the position of the President of Ford Motor Co.
Tom Peters: Former Mckinsey consultant who brought Management thinking to the masses with his book
In Search of Excellence which he co-authored with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
St Augustine: Was one of the founding fathers of the Catholic Church. He was
originally from Carthage in North Africa and was initially influenced by
Manichaeism and then by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus. He later converted
to Christianity and conceptualized the Catholic Church as a spiritual city of
God,in his book, The City of God.
Eckhart Tolle: Is a German born writer and spiritual teacher. He is the author
of the bestsellers The Power of Now and A New Earth.
Karl Popper :was an Austrian and British philosopher .He is considered as one
of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century. Legendary
investor George Soros, whom he taught at the London School of Economics,
considers him as his guru. He wrote influential books like The Logic of
Scientific Discovery, The Open Society and its enemies and The Poverty of
Historicism.
Henry David Thoreau: Was an American poet, author and naturalist who wrote
very influential books like Walden and Civil Disobedience.
Mahatma Gandhi: Was the pre eminent leader of the Indian freedom
movement. He pioneered ways civil disobedience through non-violent
resistance.
Kurt Lewin: Was a German-American psychologist who pioneered the studies of group
dynamics and organizational development.
Fritz Perl: Was an American psychologist of German origin who pioneered “Gestalt Therapy”, a
process involving perceptions, emotions, feelings and behavior.
Roger Bannister: Was a former English athlete and physician who was the
first man in history to run the mile in less than 4 minutes, a feat which
experts had described to be impossible.
Dante: Was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. He is famous for composing
the Divine Comedy, which is reputed to be the greatest work in the Italian
language.
Acts of the Apostles: Also known as the Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament and is
reputed to be written by Luke the Evangelist.
The Iching: which also means the Book of Change, is one of the oldest of the Chinese texts
and is considered to be an integral part of Chinese culture.
Bhagawat Gita: Is one of the most sacred Hindu texts. It is considered part of the epic
Mahabharatha(Ramayana is another famous epic).
Thomas Hardy : English novelist and poet. Even though he considered himself to primarily be a
poet, he wrote famous novels like Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding
Crowd.
Lewis Carroll: Was an English author and mathematician who wrote Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass
Bob Dylan: American musician who impacted the Civil Rights and anti-war
movement with some of his songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The
Times They Are a-Changin'".
Part B Generative Order
Wayne Dyer: Leading American author of self help and spiritual genres.
Daniel Goleman: Psychologist and writer of popular science who came up with the concept of Emotional
Intelligence. His recent book is about Ecological Intelligence.
Og Mandino: Former American self help author whose books have sold over
50 million copies. His most famous work is The Greatest Salesman in the
world.
Colin Powell: Retired American General and Secretary of State under George
Bush Jr. He has been speculated as a potential Presidential or Vice
Presidential candidate.
John Milton: English poet who is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.
Sigmund Freud: Austrian neurologist who was the father of psychology. His
theories centered on our unconscious mind as well as sexual desire as the
main source of human motivation.
Rosa Parks: African American civil rights activist whose refusal to obey the bus
driver’s command of vacating her seat sparked the the Montgomery Bus
Boycott, a catalyst for the Civil Rights movement.
Abraham Lincoln: Was the 16th President of the United States who led his
country through the Civil War and abolished slavery.
Danah Zohar:
Is a pioneer in applying principles of quantum physics into
psychology and organizational behavior. She has written books like The
Quantum Self, The Quantum Society, and ReWiring the Corporate Brain.
Jean Paul Sartre: Was a French existentialist philosopher and novelist who has tremendous
impact on 20th century French philosophy. He has written books like Being and Nothingness,
Nausea and No Exit.
Anwar Sadat: Was the third President of Egypt who became a hero in the Arab world for his
leadership against Israel in the 1973 war. Later, made peace with Israel and signed the Camp
David accord for which he was ultimately assassinated.
Hank Aaron: Retired American baseball player considered to be one of the all
time greatest.
Shakti Gwain: American self help and personal development author whose
book Creative Visualization has sold millions of copies.
Charles Baudelaire: Was a 19th century French poet whose book of poetry Les
fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), have been acknowledged as classics of
French literature.
Richard Bach: American author who wrote several highly popular motivational books
in the 1970’s like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a
Reluctant Messiah.
Arthur Schopenhauer: German philosopher who explored the role of man's
basic motivation which he called will in his most influential work, The World
as Will and Representation. He also was the Greatest disciple of Kant and has
influenced other thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche,, Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.
Rupert Murdoch: American media czar of Australian origin and CEO of News
Corps whose media assets range from the conservative Fox news to the racy
British Sun.
Napoleon Hill: A pioneer in the field of self help genre, he studied the success
principles of Andrew Carnegie, steel baron, for years before he condensed them in
his famous book, Think and Grow Rich.
Tibetan Book of the Dead: Is a funeral text of Tibetan origin and bears similiarity to the Egyptian
the experiences that the consciousness has
Book of the Dead. It sheds light t upon
after death and during the interval between death and the next rebirth.
Genesis 11:31: It is the first book of the Hebrew Bible, and the first of the
five books of the Torah, the foundational Jewish religious and ethical texts.
Rabindranath Tagore: The first Non-Westerner to win the Noble Prize (for his
poem Gitanjali), he was a prolific author and poet in the Bengali language.
Barbara Tuchman: Self trained American historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for her
book, The Guns of August.
F Scott Fitzgerald: Iconic American author who chronicled the Jazz Age of the 1920’s
in his celebrated books This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned,
Tender Is the Night and The Great Gatsby.
Goethe: Was one of the key figures of German literature who composed the
epic Faust and numerous poems . His other works included Wilhelm Meister's
Apprenticeship and the The Sorrows of Young Werther.
Hermann Hess: Was a German born Swiss Noble Prize winner in literature
who explored self realization and spirituality in his books like Steppenwolf,
Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game.
Harold Kushner: Conservative Rabbi who wrote When Bad Things Happen to
Good People after the death of his infant son where he addresses the
problem of evil.
St. John of the Cross: Spanish mystic, who, along with Saint Teresa of Avila,
was a major figure of the Catholic Reformation.
Seneca: Was a Roman Stoic(see also Marcus Aurelius above under chapter 2)
philosopher. His philosophy consisted of controlling emotions, hence the
expression, Stoic calmness.
Benjamin Disraeli: Was an influential British Prime Minister and writer of the
19th century.
Hillel: Was a famous Jewish religious leader who helped develop the Talmud, the
central text of the Jewish religion.
Jack Welch: Former CEO of GE, who was considered the best CEO in the world during
his times.
Brian Tracy: Self help author who has written highly popular books like Maximum
Achievement.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: Turkish army officer and statement who was the
founder and first President of the Turkish Republic after the First World War.
Jack Kerouac: Iconic American novelist and poet, who along with Allen
Ginsberg, symbolized the Beat generation.
THOMAS MANN: German Noble Prize winner who used symbolism in his writings. His famous
books included Magic Mountain and Budde……..
Pearl S. Buck: First American woman to win the Noble Prize in Literature, she
was raised in China and lived there till her late 30’s.
Helen Keller: Deaf and dumb from early childhood, her teacher, Anne Sullivan,
broke her isolation from very poor language use to make her into a leading
writer and educator.
Ayn Rand: Russian born American author, she was a big advocate of
capitalism and limited government. The Fountainhead and l Atlas Shrugged
are her best known works.
M. Scott Peck: was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author of the self
help genre whose most famous work was The Road Less Traveled.
D.H. Lawrence: Was an English author who dealt with topics like instinct
and sexuality. His most famous books included Sons and Lovers.
David Hume: Extremely influential British philosopher who, along with John
Locke and George Berkeley, were the leaders of the empirical school (who
believed that all knowledge came from our senses)
John Lennon: One of the founding member of the Beatles, who immensely
influenced pop culture with songs like Imagine.
JK Rowling: British author who created the Harry Potter series, one of the most successful authors of
all times.
Arthur Conan Doyle: Was a British physician and writer who is famous for
creating the character of Sherlock Holmes. He was also a writer of science
fiction.
John Dewey: Was an American philosopher. Along with William James and
Charles Pierce, he was a founder of the Pragmatism School of philosophy(
Albert Camus: French-Algerian writer and philosopher who won the Noble
Prize for Literature. He has influenced the philosophy of absurdism and
nihilism in his books like The Stranger and The Plague.
Oscar Wilde: Was a flamboyant Irish writer and playwright. He wrote the
famous novel The Picture of Dorian Gray as well as the play The Importance
of Being Earnest.
Henrik Ibsen: Was a famous 19th century Norwegian dramatist and director
who explored the hidden moralities behind facades.
Jimi Hendrix: Was an American guitarist and musician who is considered to be the greatest
guitarist of all times.
Ramana Maharishi: Hindu mystic who maintained that the purest form of his
teachings was silence, he believed in people following multiple paths.
Erich Maria Remarque: Was a German author. He wrote All Quiet on the
Western Front, a novel about the horrors of war.
Don Miguel Ruiz: Mexican author of New Age spirituality who book, The Four
Agreements, have sold over 4 million copies.
Lewis Mumford: American historian and philosopher who was noted for his
studies on cities.
Andy Warhol: American artist and film maker who popularized the visual art
movement known as pop art. He was an icon of pop culture.
aldous Huxley: Was a leading intellectual and writer who was interested in
mysticism and spirituality. Some of his famous books included The Doors of
perception and Brave New World. His problems with seeing gave him unique
insights about visual communications which he explored in his book The Art
of Seeing.
George Orwell: Was an English author and journalist who wrote passionately
against totalitarianism and championed the cause of a free society. His
famous books include Animal Farm and 1984.
Michel Foucault: Very influential French philosopher of the late 19th century
who is known for his critical studies of social institutions like prisons. His best
known works are . He posited a dark view of society and was famous
for his conflicts with other philosophers, most notably, Jurgen Habermas,
who propounded a more enlightened view.
Noam Chomsky: Greatest American linguist of our times who propounded his
concept of generative grammar in his book Synaptic Structures. According to
him, certain linguistic principles are innate and common to all humans.
George Bernard Shaw: Famous Irish playwright whose best known work was
Pygmalion, which was adapted to a very successful movie. He was a
Fabian(British society) socialist who wrote a lot about the exploitation of the
working class.
John Locke: Another influential leader of the Enlightenment movement, he held the view
that the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa and that our knowledge is derived from our
experiences.
Derrida: Algerian born French philosopher whose theory of deconstruction has majorly
influenced the thinking of recent times. Considered to be the greatest living philosopher
till he passed away a few years ago, he books like On Grammatology has shaped the Post
Modern understanding of literary theory and meaning.
Zen koan: A method of teaching of Zen Buddhism where in a short story is told which
does not fit into any normal concept of meaning. The purpose is to develop the intuition
of the listeners and make them transcend the limitations of rational thought.
Martin Heidegger: Controversial German philosopher who has influenced notables like Jean Paul Sartre
and who himself was influenced by Edmund Husserl. In his book, Being and Time, he explores the nature
of Being.
Jerome Seymour Bruner: American psychologist who did seminal work on
categorization. He also conducted research on child development and mental
representations.
Han Feizi: Chinese philosopher and aristocrat who was a very influential member of Legalism School
of Chinese philosophy.
Sam Walton: Iconic American entrepreneur who founded Wal Mart. His autobiography,
Made in America, is a must read.
Idries Shah: Was a Sufi(see above…) author whose most famous work is The Sufis. He is
best known for his humorous parables revolving around the character, Mulla Nusruddin.
Erasmus: Classical scholar of rhetoric and style, his works like In Praise of Folly,
influenced and helped reform various branches of Christianity.
Dale Carnegie: American self help guru who has immensely influenced 20th century
American culture with his book How to Win Friends and Influence People,
Alex Haley: African -American author who became famous by writing Roots:
The Saga of an American Family . He also collaborated with iconic Civil Rights
leader, Malcolm X and co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Robert Putnam: American political scientist who has studied modern society. His most famous
work is Bowling Alone where he propounds that social capital of America, in the form of civic and
social life, has severely diminished.
Alexis de Tocqueville: French historian and political scientist who is famous for writing
Democracy in America, based on his extensive travels in the United States.
Henry Ford: Iconic founder of the Ford Motor company who was not only a
prolific inventor but also a genius in organizational innovations.
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr: Was the former CEO of IBM who accomplished the greatest
corporate turnaround in history. Prior to IBM, he was the CEO of RJR Nabisco and after
IBM, he was the Chairman of private equity powerhouse, The Carlyle Group.
Ed Schein : Legendary professorat the MIT Sloan School of Management, he has done
pioneering work in organizational development and is considered to be the inventor of
the term “corporate culture”.
R. Buckminister Fuller: American renaissance man who was an architect, designer and
futurist among other things.
Kafka: One of the most influential writers of the early 20th century, he brings out a senseless,
menacing worldview in his books like The Trial, The Castle and Amerika.
John Adams: Influential founding father and the 2 nd President of the United States who
assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the United States Declaration of Independence.
Claude Levi Strauss: Influential French anthropologist who expounded the view that the
“civilized” mind and the “savage” mind has lot of similar characteristics in his famous
book Tristes Tropiques.
Emily Durkheim: Famous French sociologist who established the discipline of sociology along
with Karl Marx and Max Weber.
Irving Janus: American sociologist who is famous for his concept of “groupthink” which
highlights systemic errors when closely knit groups make decisions.
Vinod Khosla: Indian American Venture capitalist(VC) who has topped global ratings of
VC’s several times in the past. He was the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems as well as
a former partner in legendary VC firm, Kleiner Perkins.
Part C: Adaptive Order
Oprah Winfrey: Iconic American television producer and talk show host who is
regarded as one of the most influential women in the world.
William Butler Yeats: Very influential Irish poet of the 20th century.
Esther Hicks: American self help guru and best selling author, has co-
authored the bestselling series The Law of Attraction with her husband, as
well as appeared in the film, The Secret.
Norman Vincent Peale: Protestant preacher and self help guru who wrote The Power of Positive
Thinking.
Max Planck: German physicist who is considered to be the father of quantum theory.
James Allen : Author of the over 100 years old self help classic, As a Man
Thinketh.
Robert M. Pirsig : American author best remembered for his influential book
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values.
Nelson Mandela: Was President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, he led
South Africa out of an apartheid regime into a democracy. Considered as one
of the greatest leaders of the late 20th century.
Hannah Arendt: Influential German philosopher and political theorist. She has
dealt with subjects like the nature of power and totalitarianism in her works
like The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem.
Andy Grove: Former CEO of Intel who wrote the book Only the paranoid survives.
Samuel Johnson: English author and essayist who made a lot of contribution
to the English language.
Arthur Ashe: African American tennis player who won three Grand Slams and
also made strong contribution to social causes.
Mark Twain: Great American novelist and humorist, who is famous for his books like Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
John Gardner: Former Secretary of Health under President Johnson, who also founded Common
Cause, the first non-profit public interest group in the United States.
Bertolt Brecht: German playwright and Marxist who has made major improvisations in
the field of theatre.
Martin Buber: Austrian philosopher who has build the science of religious
existentialism by distinguishing between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It
relationship.
Edmund Hillary: Mountaineer from New Zealand, who, along with Tenzing Norgay,
became the first person to climb Mt Everest.
Thorstein Veblen: Norwegian-American sociologist and economist who wrote The Theory of the Leisure
Class.
Thomas J. Watson, Jr : Was the president of IBM from 1952 to 1971 and the eldest
son of Watson Sr, the founder of IBM.
Benjamin Franklin: American politician, diplomat, scientist, civic leader who was one of the Founding
fathers, he is considered to be the father of American values and character.
Bruce Lee: Chinese actor and martial art expert who is considered to be a cultural icon.
Bodhidharma: Buddhist monk of the 5th century A.D. who transmitted the
essence of Zen from India to China.
Tim Gallway: American author who became famous by writing The Inner Game of
Tennis, where he established his philosophy of non-judgemental observation.
Howard Gardner: American psychologist best known for his theory of Multiple
Intelligence.
Alvin Toffler: American author and futurist who became famous after writing
Future Shock.
Wole Soyinka: Nigerian author who became the first African to win the Noble
Prize for Literature.
George Gurdjieff: Extremely influential spiritual teacher of the early to mid 20th
century whose pupil was P.D. Ouspensky(see above…).
Jane Austen: Famous British novelist who is best remembered for Pride and
Prejudice.
Salman Rushdie: British Indian novelist who became famous after writing
Midnight’s Children.
J.P. Morgan: Perhaps the greatest American financer of all times, he was
instrumental in combing companies and forming companies like GE and US
Steel.
Carlos Casteneda: Peruvian born American anthropologist and author who became
famous by writing his first book The Teachings of Don Juan.
Martin E. Seligman: American psychologist and self help guru who has made
major impact with his theory of learned helplessness.
Sri Aurobindo: Indian freedom fighter who turned yogi and philosopher,
famous for propounding his vision of spiritual evolution of man. His most
famous work is The Life Divine.
John F. Kennedy: 35th President of the United States, served frpm 1961 to
1963 when he was assassinated.
Ram Dass: Born Richard Alpert, he wrote the spiritual bestseller, Remember
Be Here Now. He was closely associated with Timothy Leary at Harvard in the
earlier part of his career.
Maxwell Maltz : American cosmetic surgeon who developed a self help system called
Psycho-Cybernetics, which is also the name of one of his bestsellers.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi: Burmese politician and Democracy activist whose party won
the national elections but who has been under house arrest for most of the last 20 years.
Jonathan Swift : Anglo Irish writer whose most famous work is Gulliver’s Travel.
Cesar Chavez: Mexican American Labor leader and Civil Rights activist who founded
the organization which became United Farm Workers.
Euripides: Who was the last of the three great Greek writers of tragedy after Aeschylus
and Sophocles.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Was an American architect and educator who was a major
innovator and build houses in new forms like organic architecture.
Edith Wharton : Was an American novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize for the
book The Age of Innocence.
Alfred Adler: Austrian doctor and psychologist and a former disciple of Freud
who broke away from him and started his own school of psychotherapy
centered on will to power.
Larry Ellison: American business tycoon and founder of Oracle who is known
for his legendary drive and charisma.
Charles de gaulle: Iconic French General and President who influenced the course of European
history after the 2nd World War.
John McCain: Long term US Senator from Arizona and the Republican nominee
for President for the 2008 election.
Chester Irving Barnard: American business executive who wrote the extremely
influential book, Functions of the Executive.
George Lucas: Academy award winning American film maker who is created
the iconic science fiction series, The Star Wars.
Oliver Stone: American film director and screenwriter who has won the
Academy awards for Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July.
Arthur Koestler: Hungarian born essayist and novelist who wrote the anti
totalitarian novel, Darkness at Noon.
Dr. Linus Pauling: American scientist who is considered to be one of the most
influential chemist of the 20th century. He has won the Noble Prize for both Chemistry
and Peace.
Joseph A. Schumpeter: Economist who did pioneering work in the areas of business
cycles, he coined the term “creative destruction” and wrote influential books like
Small is Beautiful. He is a “must read” for understanding the contribution and
context of entrepreneurship to economic life.
Anita Roddick: British entrepreneur who founded The Body Shop. She was a leading
environmental and social activist.
Victor Hugo: Very influential French author and poet of the Romantic Age who is
famous for his books Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Saul Alinsky: Famous American community organizer who organized the poor
for radical social action.
Scott Adams: Influential American management guru who is famous as the creator of
the Dilbert comic strip.
Vincent van Gogh: Dutch painter of the post-Impressionist school who has
majorly influenced 20th century art.
Robert Kaplan: Harvard Business School Professor, who, along with David P.
Norton, conceptualized the balanced scorecard, a means of connecting a
corporation’s current actions with its long term strategies and goals.
Carly Fiorina: American business executive and former CEO of Hewlett Packard. As one of the first women
to head a major corporation, she topped Fortune’s list of the most powerful women in American business
several times.
Michael Porter: Legendary Professor of Harvard Business School who pioneered the
study of Business Strategy with his book, The Competitive Advantage of Nations. He
also co-founded strategy consulting company, The Monitor Group.
Sun Tzu: Chinese general, strategist and Tao philosopher who wrote the
most influential treatise on strategy, The Art of War.
William of Ockham: English priest who, along with Thomas Aquinas and
Duns Scotus, is considered to be one of the most influential members of the
Scholastic school of medieval philosophy.
Alfred Chandler: Pioneering business historian who did seminal work on scale and structures of
corporations. His most famous work is Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History
of the Industrial Enterprise.
Harold S. Geneen: Influential American businessman and former CEO of the ITT
Corporation, he, and his company, was an icon of the conglomerate age of business.
John Kotter: Management guru who is an authority on Leadership and Change. Some
of his works include Our Iceberg is Melting, Leading Change and The Heart of
Change.
Louis Pasteur: Very influential French chemist who invented the technique of
pasteurization which prevented milk from getting spoiled easily.
Daniel Kahneman: Israeli psychologist who won the Noble Prize with Amos
Tversky for their pioneering work on the psychology of decision making.
Musashi: Legendary Japanese samurai warrior who wrote the iconic book of
strategy called The Book of Five Rings.
Muhammad Ali: One of the most famous boxers of all times, his charismatic
personality has made a major impact on popular culture worldwide.
David Ogilvy: Charismatic British business executive who has often been
called “The Father of Advertising”.
Guy Kawasaki: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist and Managing Director of Garage
Technology Venture, who was one of the evangelists of the Mac when Apple started.
Homer: Extremely famous Greek poet who composed the epics Illiad and the Odyssey and
impacted Greek and Western culture.
Vincent van Gogh: Dutch painter of the post-Impressionist school who has
majorly influenced 20th century art.
Boris Becker: German tennis player who was ranked Number 1 in the world.
Von Clausewitz: German soldier and militiray theorist who wrote an extremely
influential book on military strategy entitled On War.
Mikhail Gorbachev: The last Secretary General of the Soviet Union whose attempt at
reforms and summits with President Ronald Reagan helped end the cold war and
ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Bono: Irish singer and musician of the rock band U2 who is one of the most
socially conscious celebrities in the world.
Khalil Gibran: Lebanese American poet and author who is considered to be
the most widely read poet in United States. His most famous work is The
Prophet.
Erik Erikson: American psychologist who coined the term Identity crisis.
George Eliot: English novelist of the Victorian era whose works included The Mill on the Floss
and Middlemarch.
Lady Gaga: Iconic 24 year old singer who came out of nowhere to become
one of the most famous musicians in the world. She features in Times
magazines list of top 100 influential people in the world and is a huge
influence on popular culture.
George S. Patton: United States General during the 2nd World war who, though
controversial, won major battles.
David Allen: Time management and personal productivity guru whose most
famous work is Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
Part D
Black Elk: Famous Medicine Man of the Sioux Native American tribe.
Nitin Nohria: Professor at the Harvard Business School who has just been appointed
as the 10th Dean.
Paul Krugman: American Economist and author who won the Noble Prize for his work
on international trade and the geographic concentration of wealth.
Michael Pollan: American Professor and a very influential writer on Food and
agriculture.
Fritjof Capra:
Austrian-American physicist and system theorist who became
famous after writing his first book, The Tao of Physics.
Brad Pitt: One of the most famous contemporary American actor and social
activist.
John Chambers: One of the most successful hi tech CEO’s ever, he led CISCO from
relative obscurity to becoming a giant in the tech world in the 90’s and then
managed to sustain that position in the last ten years, a major feat in the Darwinian
tech business.
Sergey Brin: Russian American computer scientist who co-founded Google with Larry Page.
Tim Berners-Lee: British computer scientist who is credited with inventing the
World Wide Web.
Tim O'Reilly: Founder of O’Reilly Media and a guru of free and Opensource
software movement.
Jeffrey Sachs: American economist famous for his works on poverty alleviation,
sustainable development and globalization. His works include The End of Poverty
and Common Wealth.
Thomas Friedman: American journalist and Pulitzer winning author who wrote the
iconic book on globalization, The World is Flat.
Naomi Klein: Canadian author and anti-corporate activist who wrote the influential
book No Logo.
Lee Kuan Yew: Legendary Prime Minister of Singapore widely credited as the
main person behind the amazing rise of Singapore.
Paul Samuelson: The first American to win the Noble Prize in Economics, he is considered to be
the greatest academic economist who wrote Economics: An Introductory Analysis, the
best selling economic textbook of all time.
Robert Reich: American politician, academic and writer who was the
Secretary of Labor under during the Clinton era.
Deepak Chopra: Extremely influential Indian born physician who is among the
foremost gurus of New Age spirituality and holistic health of our times.
Indra Nooyi: Indian American executive who is the CEO and Chairman
of Pepsico. She has been consistently ranked as one of the most
powerful women business leaders in recent times.
Muhammad Yunus: Bangladeshi banker and economist who was awarded the
Noble Prize in Economics for pioneering the concept of microcredit, loans
given to poor entrepreneurs who normally would not qualify on their own. He
is the author of Banker to the Poor.
Mitt Romney: A contender for the Republican nominee for the 2008
Presidential elections, he is a former CEO of leading management
consultancy firm Bain&Co, and enjoys unmatched credibility about his
economic expertise among contemporary American political leaders.
Thorstein Veblen: American sociologist and economist best known for his
book The Theory of the Leisure Class.
Charles Dickens: The most popular English novelist of the Victorian era, his extremely
influential novels like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and others still impacts society
to this very day.
Marianne Williamson: Leading author and New Age guru who became famous with
her first book, A return to love.
Bill Clinton: 42 nd President of United States, known for creating the record
level of economic prosperity in the history of United States.
Ronald Reagan: The 40th President of United States, best known for negotiating the end of Cold
War and making United States the dominant superpower in the world.