Thinkers50 Ranking
For over 20 years, Thinkers50 has been identifying, ranking, and sharing the very best ideas and thought leaders in management and business. The Thinkers50 Ranking is published every two years and unveiled at the Thinkers50 Awards Gala – the “Oscars of management thinking” – Financial Times.
Highlighting the important work of 50 thinkers whose work provides practical, compelling insights with real-world impact, the Thinkers50 Ranking is the original and pre-eminent global ranking of its kind.
The methodology is organised by two broad concepts: Viability – the quality and relevance of ideas; and Visibility – the influence and impact of ideas in the world. These concepts are quantified using 10 criteria.
VIABILITY (THE 4RS):
VISIBILITY (IMPACT):
Nominations are accepted between 1 May and 30 June in odd-numbered years.
Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards
Founded in 2011, the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards are presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in a particular field of management thinking. These categories are listed below.
Nominations are accepted throughout May and June and the shortlists are announced every Monday starting in August. The final recipients are invited onto the stage at the Thinkers50 Awards Gala to be presented with their “Oscar” of management thinking.
Nominations for the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Category Awards are open from May to July in Thinkers50 Awards Gala years (odd-numbered years), and shortlists are announced in late summer. Awards are conferred in November at the biennial Thinkers50 Awards Gala event.
All nominations for the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards are considered by the Thinkers50 Panel of Advisors.
Public participation is an important part of the Awards process. In Thinkers50 Awards years (odd-numbered years) all interested parties are invited to participate in the nomination process by submitting online the names and qualifications of thinkers they wish to put forward for consideration. Nominations from across the globe are accepted – and encouraged.
for the 2025 Thinkers50 Ranking and Distinguished Achievement Awards
Nominations open from 1 May to 30 June 2025.
Nominations are now closed.
Nomination fee: £50.00 (incl. VAT)
Each Gala year, we receive thousands of highly valued nominations for the Thinkers50 Ranking and Distinguished Achievement Awards. The administrative process involved in properly researching and weighing all nominations — to ensure the quality and independence Thinkers50 is renowned for — is a job we take very seriously.
To cover a portion of the costs involved in this work, all nominations incur a non-refundable processing fee.
From Taylorism to The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, new ideas have redefined our understanding and practice of business and management. The Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award celebrates an innovative thinker whose groundbreaking insights have the power to revolutionise management thinking. Who will be the next game-changer?
Great leaders rarely develop in isolation. Since ancient times, the impact of advisors has been profound. Today’s executive coaches serve as both wisdom-bearers and cross-pollinators of best practices, transferring innovative ideas between thought leaders and practitioners. The Thinkers50 Coaching and Mentoring Award honours the influential work of those behind the scenes.
The acceleration of technological advancement – particularly AI – is rapidly and fundamentally reshaping the business landscape. The Thinkers50 Digital Thinking Award applauds a visionary whose work illuminates the complex implications of our evolving digital reality. It celebrates thought leaders who translate the technological revolution into practical management frameworks.
In an era where global disruptions have exposed vulnerabilities in critical systems, the ability to anticipate and prepare for both challenges and opportunities ahead has become paramount. The Future Readiness Award recognises thought leadership that helps organisations develop the agility, talent, and infrastructure needed to thrive amid uncertainty and change.
While necessity is the spark for invention, innovation translates possibility into reality. The Thinkers50 Innovation Award celebrates the thought leader whose recent contributions have most significantly advanced our understanding of innovation – offering frameworks and approaches that help transform creative thinking into tangible progress and meaningful change.
Across teams, companies, and organisations of every kind, effective leadership is a key ingredient for success. However, the concept of leadership – and the expectations placed upon leaders – continues to evolve in response to changing contexts and challenges. The Thinkers50 Leadership Award honours individuals who offer compelling, original insights for leading in the modern world.
Drawn from the Radar Classes of the previous two years, the Thinkers50 Radar Award throws the spotlight on a rising star in management thinking – an exciting new voice with the potential to impact businesses and organisations in the years to come. With so many complex challenges facing leaders today, the need for fresh, new thinking and practical ideas has never been greater.
Regenerative business is the future of business. A regenerative business moves beyond sustainability by seeking to restore, renew, and enhance the natural and social systems it depends upon. The Thinkers50 Regenerative Business Award salutes the work of those helping organisations take the step from net zero to net positive outcomes for the environment, society, and the economy.
Strategy lies at the core of effective leadership and organisational success – charting direction, aligning resources, and guiding decision-making. The Thinkers50 Strategy Award highlights a thinker providing outstanding insight, clarity, and impact in the field of strategic thinking. It honours those whose ideas leaders turn to when determining where to go – and how best to get there.
The challenge of attracting, developing, and retaining top talent has never been greater. In today’s global economy, talent is one of the most vital and sought-after assets. As workplaces evolve and new generations reshape expectations around work, the Thinkers50 Talent Award recognises a thinker who has advanced our understanding of the fast-evolving talent landscape.
Recognising an outstanding body of work over an entire lifetime
The Thinkers50 Lifetime Achievement Award is given to someone who has had a long-term impact on the way people think about and practice management. The first-ever award in this category was given to Charles Handy in 2011. Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award gain automatic entry into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.
See the complete list of Lifetime Achievement Award recipients
For an individual who has paved the way for thought leadership to flourish
The Thinkers50 Founders’ Award, introduced in 2019, recognises individuals in the world of business ideas who provide industry leadership and inspiration. It acknowledges the invaluable contribution of the architects who lay the foundations for ideas to flourish. The first Thinkers50 Founders’ Award recipient was Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University.
The public is invited to participate in the online nomination process for both the Ranking and the Distinguished Achievement Awards by submitting the names and qualifications of thinkers they wish to put forward for consideration. Nominations are accepted and encouraged from individuals and organisations across the globe.
2025 shortlists are being announced every Monday between 4 August and 6 October.
The new Ranking and Award recipients will be announced at the
While necessity is the spark for invention, innovation translates possibility into reality. The Thinkers50 Innovation Award celebrates the thought leader whose recent contributions have most significantly advanced our understanding of innovation, offering frameworks and approaches that help transform creative thinking into tangible progress and meaningful change.
A leading voice on innovation, strategy, and growth, Scott D. Anthony is a professor at the Tuck School of Business Dartmouth College, where his research and teaching focuses on the adaptive challenges of disruptive change. He is also Managing Partner Emeritus and advisor at Innosight, a growth strategy consultancy founded by Clayton Christensen. Scott’s previous books include Eat, Sleep, Innovate (with Paul Cobban, Natalie Painchaud and Andy Parker, HBR Press, 2020); and Dual Transformation (with Clark G. Gilbert and Mark W. Johnson, HBR Press, 2017).
for Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World (HBR Press, 2025)
Dean Carignan is Chief of Staff in Microsoft’s Office of the Chief Scientist. He is also Chief of Staff for Microsoft’s Aether initiative, driving research and innovation in responsible AI across the company and in the broader technology industry. Lifelong entrepreneur, JoAnn Garbin led Microsoft’s Datacenter of the Future program before co-founding her new venture, Regenerous Labs. Previously, she was Chief Innovation Officer at Aircuity and founded knowledge engineering firm, KnowE.
for The Insider’s Guide to Innovation at Microsoft (Post Hill Press, 2025)
Jeff Dyer holds the Horace Beesley Distinguished Professorship in Strategy at Brigham Young University. Nathan Furr is a professor of strategy at INSEAD, where he teaches innovation and technology strategy. Curtis Lefrandt serves as co-founder and CEO of consulting firm, Innovator’s DNA, and Taeya Howell is an assistant professor of organisational behaviour and human resources management at Brigham Young. Jeff and Nathan co-authored The Innovator’s Method (HBR Press, 2014) and, along with Curtis, Innovation Capital (HBR Press, 2019).
for Why Innovation Depends on Intellectual Honesty (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2023)
The Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, Linda A. Hill is also chair of the Leadership Initiative, co-founder of Paradox Strategies, and co-creator of the Innovation Quotient. Emily Tedards is a doctoral student at Harvard Business School and a doctoral fellow for the Reimagining the Economy Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School. Jason Wild is a growth and strategy advisor and previously global VP and CEO of Co-Innovation and Customer Engagement at Microsoft and senior VP of Transformation and Innovation at Salesforce.
for Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation (HBR Press, 2026)
Former refugee and serial entrepreneur, Diana Kander is an innovation consultant, keynote speaker, and author. Her previous books include The Curiosity Muscle (with Andy Fromm, Truefolio, 2018) and All In Startup (Wiley, 2014). Tucker Trotter is the CEO of Dimensional Innovations (DI), an experience design, fabrication and tech company. He serves on the board for the Kansas City Sports Commission, is VC of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the School of Architecture and Design, and is a founding donor to the Center for Design Research at the University of Kansas.
for Go Big or Go Home: 5 Ways to Create a Customer Experience That Will Close the Deal (Houndstooth Press, 2023)
Former Ireland international and professional rugby union player, Aidan McCullen is the author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life (Wiley, 2021). A change consultant and executive coach, Aidan is the host and founder of The Innovation Show, a weekly podcast that goes beyond technological innovation to focus on the fundamental need for business, management, leadership, and education to innovate and adapt to a new world order.
for creating and hosting The Innovation Show podcast
Chief science advocate and corporate scientist at 3M, Jayshree Seth — a prolific inventor, award-winning innovator and thought leader — studies the public perception of science and advocates for STEM innovation and the culture and ecosystem to support it. She serves on Board of FIRST, a global robotics nonprofit, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. She is on advisory councils for committees at International Space Station National Lab, American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Aspen Institute, Clarkson University, and The Conference Board as Innovation Fellow.
for The Heart of Science trilogy (Society of Women Engineers, 2020, 2022, 2024)
An expert on platform strategy, transformation, digital and business model innovation, Feng Zhu is the MBA Class of 1958 Professor of business Administration at Harvard Business School. He also leads the Platform Lab within the Digital, Data, and Design Institute. Former Bloomberg journalist Bonnie Yining Cao is a doctoral student at Harvard Business School. In Smart Rivals, they draw on their research to show how companies can compete in the age of AI – on their own terms – with the tech giants.
for Smart Rivals: How Innovative Companies Play Games That Tech Giants Can’t Win (HBR Press, 2024)
From Taylorism to The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, new ideas have redefined our understanding and practice of business and management. Dedicated to the legacy of C.K. Prahalad, the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award celebrates an innovative thinker whose ground-breaking insights have the power to revolutionise management thinking. Who will be the next game-changer?
Entrepreneur and founder of New Zealand’s largest corporate trustee firm, Perpetual Guardian, Andrew Barnes is the pioneer behind the global 4 Day Week movement. Driven to find ways to raise productivity in the workplace while also contributing to the wellbeing of his employees, he trialled a 4 day week with staff receiving an extra day off, on full pay, each week. The success of this trial has since been replicated in thousands of organisations around the world. His book The 4 Day Week serves as a guide for companies to re-design their workweek and improve performance.
for the 4 Day Week
The chief talent scientist at Manpower Group, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is also co-founder of Deeper Signals and Metaprofiling and a professor of business psychology at University College London and Columbia University. His new book Don’t Be Yourself argues that the popular advice to “be authentic” is scientifically flawed and demonstrates that the most effective people adapt their behaviour to situational demands and how others perceive them. Tomas’ previous books include I, Human, Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? and The Talent Delusion.
for Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity is Overrated (and What to Do About It) (HBR Press, 2025)
A professor at ESCP Business School, Isaac Getz is also a senior advisor specialising in leadership and organisational transformation and has been instrumental in the modern corporation liberation movement. Laurent Marbacher is a senior adviser to business leaders. Isaac and Laurent are also co-authors of L’Entreprise Altruiste. Their new book The Caring Company argues that companies can prioritise serving the common good while also achieving business success by building unconditionally caring relationships with customers, suppliers, and communities rather than merely transacting with them.
for The Caring Company: How to Shift Business and the Economy for Good (Wiley, 2025)
Kaihan Krippendorff is the founder and CEO of Outthinker Networks, a global think tank comprising corporate strategists, innovators, and intrapreneurs. He is the author of Driving Innovation From Within and Outthink the Competition. Robert C. Wolcott is co-founder and chair of The World Innovation Network (TWIN Global). His books include Grow from Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation (with Michael J. Lippitz). In Proximity, Kaihan and Rob provide a strategic guide for leaders to navigate the revolutionary shift towards just-in-time, on-demand products and solutions, enabled by new digital technologies.
for Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-in-Time Transform Business, Society, and Daily Life (Columbia Business School Publishing, 2024)
Assistant professor at Aalto University, Helsinki, Frank is also co-founder of Filosofian Akatemia Oy, a company that measures engagement, motivation, and meaningfulness at work. He is the author of Stop Chasing Happiness and A Wonderful Life. In his 2023 article for the Harvard Business Review, Frank sets out how CEOs can shift from hierarchical to minimalist leadership – empowering employees, replacing control with trust, and building a more innovative business. By daring to make this change, Frank contends, leaders will realise the less employees need them, the more they have succeeded.
Siobhán McHale began her career as a management consultant at PricewaterHouse Coopers and Accenture before leading a seven-year change project at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), which became the subject of a case study by John Kotter at Harvard Business School. In The Hive Mind, Siobhán explores her theory of Group Intelligence (GQ), which goes beyond traditional approaches to change management, drawing on lessons from bee colonies such as hard work, teamwork, role clarity, and resilience. Siobhán is also author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change.
for The Hive Mind at Work: Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence to Create Meaningful and Lasting Change (HarperCollins Leadership, 2024)
The authors of Speak Out, Listen Up: How to have conversations that matter (FT Publishing, 2024) and Speak Up: Say what needs to be said and hear what needs to be heard (FT Publishing, 2019), Megan Reitz and John Higgins latest research focuses on the concept of Spaciousness: how to shift from the “doing mode” of box-ticking to the “spacious mode” of creative thinking, wellbeing, and satisfaction. Their recent articles include The Best Leaders Encourage “Spacious Thinking” (Harvard Business Review, 2025), How to Give Yourself More Space to Think (Harvard Business Review, 2025) and A pause is not just for Christmas (HR Magazine, 2025).
for Spaciousness
Former business executive and consultant, Kate Vitasek leads the University of Tennessee research on strategic partnerships, a role which has resulted in the development of her methodology, Vested. Based on a framework of five rules and ten elements, The Vested Way transforms organisations from a “What’s in for Me” culture to a ‘What’s in it for We” culture, by co-creating a shared vision and statement of intentions. If followed properly, the parties create a win-win Vested Agreement to achieve mutually defined desired outcomes.
for the Vested business model
Join us at the ‘Oscars of management thinking’, where we announce the recipients of the 2025 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards.
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Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
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United Kingdom
Thinkers50 Limited
The Studio
Highfield Lane
Wargrave RG10 8PZ
United Kingdom
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