This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of Kepner-Tregoe co-founder, Ben Tregoe in April. This past March, John Zimmerman “Zim,” one of Kepner-Tregoe’s first and longest employees also passed. Beginning in the mid-20th century, Ben and John “Zim” along with other early KT trailblazers built a company whose services to this day continue to be timeless.
They recognized the value of rational thought—clear thinking—and found new ways to describe it, teach it, and use it. Ben and Zim wrote books together, expanding KT process to develop the skills and capability for modern organizations in a way that transcended industries, technologies, languages and geographies. They focused on people and based their work on the proverb: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”.
While Ben and Zim continued to take leadership roles on the KT board after retirement, they also continued to look for alternative ways to help others benefit from the value of KT thinking. Ben brought rational process to the classroom in schools throughout the U.S. with TregoeED. Zim spent a good deal of time mentoring others, contributing his time to Habitat for Humanity, Take Stock in Children, and the Boys and Girls Club.
As we remember these two KT originals, we celebrate their vision and appreciate the ideas and work that continue to benefit others. Thanks Ben and Zim for providing a global platform of critical thinking for our ever more complex world.
Video interview with Ben and John “Zim” circa 2005
Part I , Part II
