RIP CK

All of us at the Thinkers 50 were deeply saddened by the news last week that CK Prahalad has died after a short illness. In CK, we have lost both a great mind and a great man.

He was the most influential business thinker in the world – ranking No. 1 in consecutive Thinkers 50 rankings in 2007 and 2009 (an achievement only equalled by the late Peter Drucker). We were fortunate to get to know CK over the years and always found him engaging and generous company.

CK was unique among the management theorists we have met. He combined the intellectual detachment of a business school professor with the humanity of a social activist.

On first meeting him, we were struck by his razor sharp intellect. We meet a lot of very clever thinkers, but CK stood apart as a true intellectual. He was also highly articulate, with the Indian knack for expressing ideas in a logical and often irresistible way. But it was his interest in people of all kinds that was compelling.

An enduring memory of CK is something that happened after filming a Thinkers 50 interview with him. The interview had gone well. The interviewee (CK) had given a brilliant performance. But the interviewer (Des) had stumbled over some of the questions. Despite the fact that he was tired after a long day and had a plane to catch, CK uncomplainingly did several retakes. Finally, the interview was in the can and he was free to go. Most gurus would have left with barely a backward glance. But CK turned to the camera crew and asked: "Did I make sense to you? Because if I didn’t then I’m not doing my job properly."

The camera crew had been drafted in at short notice. An hour earlier they had probably never heard of him. Certainly they had never read any of his books or articles. Yet the response was emphatic. They had understood. More than that, they instinctively recognised that here was not just a clever man -- but also a great man. It was the only time we can remember a camera crew spontaneously ask for the autograph of a business school professor.

That was CK. "The hidden thread that runs through my work is the idea of the democratization of commerce," he told us when we last spoke. "That is what I care about." He cared passionately that his ideas were understood not just by academics and MBAs, but by everyone. His ideas were for everyone.

Please send tributes and memories of CK to des.dearlove@crainerdearlove.com

Des Dearlove & Stuart Crainer

Tributes

"In the 2009 Thinkers 50 listing, Dr. C.K. Prahalad was ranked as the most influential business thinker in the world. I believe that this recognition—one of many he received over the course of his amazing career—was completely justified. He was not only a best-selling author; he was one of the world's most highly sought-after management consultants. His work influenced millions of readers and countless major corporations.

Along with being a great thinker and consultant, C.K. was a humanitarian—in the best sense of the word. He didn't just have grand ideas about saving the world that would never get implemented. He actually got things done.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2010/ca20100422_025841.htm

C.K. lived in my neighborhood, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. I had dinner with him and his wife just one month before his passing. The week before his death, he sent me a very kind e-mail concerning my work as an executive coach. His death was a complete shock. C.K. Prahalad lived a life that mattered. I feel very blessed to have known him. He will be missed."
Marshall Goldsmith