Glad? Well...

The Times of London unveiled today its Thinkers 50, a list of the sharpest business minds in the world, and Elmira native Malcolm Gladwell is ranked #2, just behind entrepreneur and author C.K. Prahalad.

Gladwell outranked Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs, as well as Gladwell's childhood pal and Wallenstein native Roger Martin, who is dean of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

Gladwell is no stranger to acclaim, having written three bestsellers (The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers) and previously been named one of Time Magazine's 50 most influential people in the world.

Still, I figured he'd be pretty chuffed about his high ranking on the Thinkers 50, so I contacted him to ask for his reaction.

"This is the first I'm hearing about it," he replied. "I guess I'm honoured."

You've got to admire the guy's unflappable humility. If I was named second-best in the world at anything -- even if it was 2nd Smelliest, or 2nd Most Likely to Get Eaten By Wolves -- I'm sure I'd be more exuberant than Gladwell was.

I've just written a longish article based on my chat with Gladwell, which will run in The Record tomorrow or Saturday. Check it out. He's a really interesting dude.  Perhaps not quite as interesting as C.K. Prahalad, mind you....

Comments

[Terre]

I guess with renown comes infamy and attention. Both can be deeply negative, and really, left in the hands of the crazy public, generally are. The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

[DJ]

I believe that there is a definite positive correlation between the craziness/curliness/gravity-defiance of a person's hair and the public's perception of their intelligence. Call it the Einstein Effect, if you will. Gladwell has benefited from this undoubtedly. Oh and I guess he is kinda smart too. I guess.

[Mantaur]

I would include Carrot Top in there along Einstein and Gladwell.

[pass a drug test]

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