Earlier this week I was copied on an email from Candy Brush.   A student had forwarded her the article from Monday's WSJ which presents a "ranking of influential business thinkers" compiled for the Journal by Babson's own Tom Davenport.  Professor Davenport used a methodology he developed earlier for his book ," What's the Big Idea," and measures according to Google hits, media mentions, and academic citations.  I'm not reproducing the list here - but even the WSJ asked where the women were.  The one woman on the 2003 list (Rosabeth Moss Kanter) has fallen off and no woman entered into the list. 

Well, a flurry of email followed among a group of female academics.   All of us wished there were some women on the list, but I think we started asking the right questions.  We talked about the methodology, and thought we might be able to help with a different starting list next time as to the 100 leading business gurus.  We wondered about the definition of "business guru" and certainly "top business guru."  I'm challenging us all to continue that debate, so my first question is - how would you propose as female "top business gurus?"  And if we are struggling with the list - that is a different question. 

So, I emailed Tom Davenport and asked if he'd be willing to be part of a blog discussion on this.  His answer came back almost right away - absolutely.  Therefore, my friends,  please share.  Why did this list hit us so hard?  Are women really not in this arena at all?  And if so, why not? 

Patti