Note: this Blog Post Series ran monthly from July 2012 until December 2015 when it adjusted its posting schedule from routine and monthly, to an occasional if not infrequent one.

To see additions to this starting in November 2022 – please go to The Pursuing Performance Annex – here.

The My First Friday Favorite Guru Series

We each have many influencers, and mentors, both active and passive, knowingly and unknowingly in their respective roles in our development.

This series of monthly Blog Postings is my attempt to acknowledge all of them… one by one… in no particular order… as I try to consciously reflect on what I have learned – and whom I have learned it from, regarding all things “Performance Improvement” – my focus – in my professional development over the past 30+ years.

I have a long list.

Lucky me.

Links To All of the Past Posts in the MFFF Guru Series

Here are 49 people I would recognize as my mentors, whether they knew it or not. These are the gurus, teachers, and professional collaborators that I would recommend to others. So … in no particular order …

• Conrad Gottfredson – March 2023 – here.
• Bob Mosher – February 2023 – here.
• David James – January 2023 – here.
• Mirjam Neelen – December 2022 – here.
• Donald Clark – November 2022 – here.
• Patti Shank – July 2018 – here.
• Robert (Bob) E. Horn – June 2018 – here.

• Eliyahu M. Goldratt – December 2015 – here. RIP
• Brenda Sugrue – November 2015 – here.
• Karen Brethower – October 2015 – here. RIP
• Jim Pershing – September 2015 – here.
• Timm Esque – August 2015 – here.
• Ryan Watkins – July 2015 – here.
• Ken Silber – June 2015 – here.
• Roger Chevalier – May 2015 – here. RIP
• Darryl Sink – April 2015 – here.
• Jeanne Farrington  – March 2015 – here.
• Don Clark – February 2015 – here.
• Frank T. Wydra  – January 2015 – here. RIP

• Philip B. Crosby  – December 2014 – here. RIP
• Donald L. Dewar – November 2014 – here. RIP
• Joseph M. Juran  – October 2014 – here. RIP
• W. Edwards Deming  – September 2014 – here. RIP
• Bonnie B. Small – August 2014 – here. RIP
• Walter A. Shewhart – July 2014 – here. RIP
• Carl Binder – June 2014 – here.
• Ruth Clark – May 2014 – here.
• Rob Foshay – April 2014 – here.
• John Carlisle – March 2014 – here.
• Miki Lane – February 2014 – here.
• Harold Stolovitch – January 2014 – here.

• Bill Wiggenhorn – December 2013 – here.
• Will Thalheimer – November 2013 – here.
• Roger Kaufman – October 2013 – here. RIP
• Roger Addison – September 2013 – here.
• Ray Svenson – August 2013 – here. RIP
• Dick (Richard E.) Clark – July 2013 – here.
• Allison Rossett – June 2013 – here.
• Carol Panza – May 2013 – here.
• Jane Bozarth – April 2013 – here.
• Judy Hale – March 2013 – here.
• Margo Murray – February 2013 – here.
• Neil Rackham – January 2013 – here.

• Robert (Bob) Mager – December 2012 – here. RIP
• Joe H. Harless – November 2012 – here. RIP
• Thomas F. Gilbert – October 2012 – here. RIP
• Sivasailam Thiagarajan (Thiagi) – September 2012 – here.
• Geary A. Rummler – August 2012 – here. RIP
• Dale Brethower – July 2012 – here. RIP

Note: Some did protest after my posts that they were not Gurus. I replied that Gurus are in the eyes and perceptions of the beholder. Me. IMO.

Thanks to all of my gurus!

I humbly stand on all of your shoulders.

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