Our Unique History

We want to share just a few words here about why we think our history is so important for people to understand who we are. This history of Vector Group, Inc. goes back to the 1960’s with some of the individual and collective work its founding principals did. Vector Group, Inc. has had a handful of company names but the work and new thinking goes on.

In our earliest days to now, the affililiations and relationships Vector Group founding partners have or had reads like a “Who’s Who” in organizational and human performance. Notables in the field including Tom Gilbert, Joe Harless, Geary Rummler, Bob Mager, W. Warner Burke, George Litwin, Stephanie Jackson, J. Robert Carleton, Claude S. Lineberry, Kathleen Whiteside, Danny Langdon, William Daniels, Roger Kaufman, Roger Addison and many others directly shaped the work we do with organizations.

Our history is deep seated in adapting the work we do with continually changing client needs. The approaches to performance within organizations are not static; they are ever-evolving. The named individuals above made their mark in establishing new thinking, new models, new approaches then and now. Most pioneered new ways of doing things in the performance arena and laid the foundation for what we do today.

We’ve lost some of our colleagues over time but it’s the work that moves forward. Even in later life, there is still a drive for new thinking, shared observations, healthy contention, mutual conclusions and collaboration. A select group of profound thinkers formed a “think tank” called the “Tuscon 7” a few years back when they banded together to compare notes and basically rail and rebel against any constraining powers that be in the field of performance improvement.

Vector Group Principals and three other colleagues formed the newest version of this think tank called the “Whak-a-Mole Group” in 2014 for the same purpose. While considering a more “formal” name, the group wishes to expand its size from the current five members to ten or twelve. Current members include Bob Carleton, Gary Craig, William Daniels, Mary Norris-Thomas and Ingrid Guerra-Lopez.

Herein lies a critical difference between Vector Group, Inc. and the larger consulting firms. Our work is deeply rooted in the science of what we’ve learned and what we do. The science leads us to the art of how we do it and both the art and the science are in our DNA. Our DNA will pass on to the next generation. read more