Know-How Exchange : Just for Fun

Albert Einstein because he was able to imagine realities way beyond all others thinking.

https://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html

It seems to me "the customer" must have the greatest mind - because "the customer is always right".

Kevin is burning up his points today! ;]

William Edwards Deming is one of the first names I thought of. After WWII, "much of the credit for Japan's flight to quality and the making of its world-class reputation goes to quality guru W. Edwards Deming. Deming urged companies to concentrate on constant improvements, improved efficiency and doing it right the first time."

(That's a quote from an L.A. Times story that talks about fifty influential people of the century. Published Oct. 1999.)

If I can revisit your question tonight, maybe I'll offer more names! I have more IDEAS than TIME lately...

- Shelley

No list would be complete without including Adam Smith, Economist and Philosopher (1723 - 1790), who said among many things:

"Virtue is more to be feared than vice,
because its excesses are not subject to
the regulation of conscience."

Smith laid the intellectual framework that explained the free market and still holds true today. He is most often recognized for the expression "the invisible hand," which he used to demonstrate how self-interest guides the most efficient use of resources in a nation's economy, with public welfare coming as a by-product. To underscore his laissez-faire convictions, Smith argued that state and personal efforts, to promote social good are ineffectual compared to unbridled market forces.

Smith published "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations," which examined in detail the consequences of economic freedom. It covered such concepts as the role of self-interest, the division of labor, the function of markets, and the international implications of a laissez-faire economy. "Wealth of Nations" established economics as an autonomous subject and launched the economic doctrine of free enterprise.

I hope that helps.

hi kwinters

Henry Ford- is my choice-

Henry Ford invented the mass production process, the way in which most products that marketers sell are made. He had a dream of making a cheap, reliable, and efficient car.

This enabled countries like the US to become the power it is today.

Hope this helps

Leonardo Da Vinci - His amazing foresight, although not discovered or recognized until others already figured out wht he had several hundred years prior, has yet to be matched.

Edison - Must I list his inventions?

Westinghouse - Must I....

Einstein - Again, another person with the gift of seeing the invisible.

Ayn Rand - Her perceptions of "the virtues of man" still hold true to this day.

Bill Gates - Brilliant mind, Brilliant Opportunist

Michael Jordan - His basketball skills are not the only things that attribute to his success.

George Carlin - Master of the obvious and often overlooked aspects of life.

Michael Behe - His theory of irreducible complexity for Intelligent Design has given evolution and Darwinism a run for its money.

Chingis Khan - One of the most successful creators of a "co-branded conglomerate miltary force"...united surrounding tribes, convinced them to use his name, and led them to victory with precise strategies.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso - Talk about branding!

Rockefeller - Instead of drilling for oil like everyone else, he provided a place for everyone to refine it...genius.

That's it for now...

Like Frances, I'd definitely include Tim B-L!

Another name I don't see mentioned yet, and he's definitely worth a mention, is Charles Handy, author of (among other books) The Age of Unreason, The Hungry Spirit and Understanding Organisations. I haven't come across anyone else with a better insight (or foresight) into the world of work, organisations, and the way it's all changing!

Judged by Frances' criteria - 1) intelligence, 2) wisdom, and 3) the will to put these to work for a greater good - I reckon Charles Handy comes out pretty well too!

Bob