Gary Neilson of Booz Allen Hamilton

Gary Neilson is probably best known for his widely cited book, which he co-authored with Bruce Pasternack, Results: Keep What's Good, Fix What's Wrong, and Unlock Great Performance, published in 2005 by Crown Business. A senior vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, he is regarded within the firm as the originator of the Org DNA concept and the leader of the service practice based on Org DNA.

It would be easy to imagine Neilson as some organizational guru and writer ensconced within a Booz Allen ivory tower, but that is hardly the case. "I am a working, day-to-day consultant with direct account responsibility. At least 70 to 80 percent of my time is spent working with clients on specific accounts," he points out. The rest of his time is spent working with other Booz consultants on organizational design issues their clients may be encountering.

So when does he have time to author and co-author books and a stream of 25 articles on organizational design? "Mainly, I write when I am on planes," he says. He can't stop working with clients; the flow of innovative ideas to write about might dry up. "The only time I get good ideas is when I'm working with clients. Otherwise, you're left with just reading about clients in magazines," he says.