Clayton Christensen's Greatest Investment

Photo by Platon

Clayton Christensen introduced the idea of disruptive innovation to a world in the throws of the digital revolution. His thinking has reframed the perspective of innovators and business leaders the world over. On January 23, 2020 we lost Clayton to leukemia. 

As we mourn his loss and celebrate his life, what stands out is why he cared about innovation. So many people are passionate about innovation because they are in love with the solutions that they have designed. But Clayton had different priorities. Innovation was important because it was a gateway to serving others. In his New York Times obituary, they quoted this sentiment in his own words, “I know I’ve had substantial impact, but as I’ve confronted this disease, it’s been interesting to see how unimportant that impact is on me now. I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched. 

He not only believed this personally but championed this through his writing and speaking. The obituary in the Wall Street Journal highlighted this quote, “More and more M.B.A. students come to school thinking that a career in business means buying, selling, and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.” 

He was a prolific writer who clearly believed what he wrote in How Will You Measure Your Life?, “the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” If you haven't read some of his books, here is Amazon's list of his titles and here is Harvard Business Review's list of his articles. To see how he impacted people and share your own experience, the Christensen family invites you to leave a memory on this special website commemorating his life.

Clayton's most impactful idea in my work has been his "Jobs to Be Done" framework. Take a moment to watch this short video and see how he approached understanding the needs of individuals and then building solutions to serve them well. This Christensen quote embodies his approach, “For innovators, understanding the job is to understand what consumers care most about in that moment of trying to make progress.” 

It turns out this definer of disruption's most consequential contribution was his investment in the lives of those around him as he did the work he loved. I think we can learn an important lesson as innovators from Clayton. Innovation doesn't come at the expense of people. The discipline of innovation is in service to others as we seek to solve problems, create opportunity and utilize our God-given creativity. 

“For innovators, understanding the job is to 

understand what consumers care most about 

in that moment of trying to make progress.” 

Clayton Christensen