Clayton M Christensen
Entrepreneur and Professor at Harvard Business School
Clayton M. Christensen currently serves as a professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He also works with the technology & Operations Management and General Management faculty groups. His research and specialty area is managing innovation and creating new growth markets.
Christensen was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a 19-year-old, he served as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church, in Korea. During his two-year call as a missionary, he taught Mormon doctrine and Mormon beliefs to the people of Korea. During his time as a Mormon missionary, he acquired Korean language skills which would later help him in business.
“Korea at the time was the poorest country in all of Asia. And yet all these people that I lived with were the happiest and most wonderful people I could have imagined,” Christensen said. “I got the sense that happiness has nothing to do with money. Absolutely nothing to do with money.” [1]
Christensen attended Brigham Young University, studying economics, and graduating with highest honors. He received an M.Phil. in applied econometrics and the economics of less-developed countries from Oxford University. During his time at Oxford, he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Soon after, he earned his Masters in business with high distinction from Harvard Business School. He graduated as a George F. Baker Scholar. He was awarded his DBA from the Harvard Business School in 1992.
His excellent education would prepare him for his extensive work in the business world. Christensen took on the role of entrepreneur, when he founded three successful companies. His first would be CPS Corporation. This business specializes in advanced materials manufacturing. He founded the company in 1984, with several other MIT professors. In 2000, he launched Innosight, which focuses business consulting in areas such as strategy, innovation, and growth in companies. Christensen then launched Innosight Capital in 2005. In 1982 Professor Christensen was named a White House Fellow. He served as assistant to U.S. Transportation Secretaries Drew Lewis and Elizabeth Dole. His talents have been recognized nationwide.
Despite having so many projects going on at once, Christensen became a faculty member at the Harvard Business School in 1992, earning tenure faster than any other professor. He is a seasoned author, penning five books. The Innovator’s Dilemma, which was published in 1997, received the Global Business Book Award for the best business book published in 1997. The book describes the business model of new technology companies, which Christensen calls “disruptive innovation.” The start-ups create new, easy-to-use and inexpensive technology, purchased by consumers at the lower end of the economic spectrum. These companies then move into more complex and more expensive technologies, supplanting other established companies with sound business practices. Says Christensen, “It is good management that sows the seeds of every successful company’s ultimate demise.”
His other books have populated the New York Times best seller list. The list of Christensen’s awards is long. Currently, he is finishing up two books that focus on the problems of the American healthcare system and public education. He proposes solutions to the problems in both areas. Christensen was a member and chairman of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Affiliate of the American Diabetes Association for almost a decade. He is extremely active at a local level, serving as an elected member of the Town Meeting Council in Belmont, Massachusetts. He has served in a variety of positions in his local government.
Christensen is one of the business world’s most sought after consultants.
Nolan Archibald, the CEO of Black & Decker for 24 years and now Executive Chairman of the Stanley Black & Decker Corporation, remembers Christensen giving a seminar to 200 of the nation’s top CEOs. “The respect and reverence that these CEOs had for this college professor Clayton Christensen is, I think, unparalleled.” [1]
Despite his commitment to his professional life, he has not neglected his church callings and membership. He wrote a book entitled Why I believe. He explains why he is a member of the Mormon Church, through which he has helped to strengthen the faith of many Mormons. For 25 years, he has served as scoutmaster, cubmaster, and den leader for the Boy Scouts of America. His dedication to youth helps him stay grounded. He lives with his wife, Christine, and has settled his family in Belmont, Massachusetts where they are both extremely active in church service. He has served in the church in many different capacities. He is the proud father of five children.
Christensen was raised very modestly in the Rose Park area of Salt Lake City. He says:
“Big portions of my life were spent in obscurity and poverty. Other portions have been prominent and had more money,” Christensen said recently while visiting Salt Lake City. “And I greatly prefer poverty and obscurity. It’s just a lot easier to raise your children.”
But Christensen’s success hasn’t changed the boy from Rose Park much. “Clayton is one of the finest men I have ever met in my life,” Archibald said. “He is extremely bright, he is truly an intellectual. And yet … the way he treats people and the way he acts he is one of the most humble, unassuming people that I know. … He makes everyone around him feel like they are the superior one, that they are the focal point. And you never get the impression that the world revolves around Clayton.” [1]
Recently, Christensen has suffered from some serious health problems. He has had diabetes, a massive heart attack, and non-Hodgkin’s follicular lymphoma cancer. He was recovering from the cancer in July this year and was training a church group when he suffered a stroke. The stroke caused an inability to pull up known words during his presentations. He still pressed forward, and with his superb intellect and grasp of his material, delivered presentations that were still the best and most innovative that many had ever attended.
The inspiring thing for all who know Christensen, is that he is a truly humble guy, unimpressed with his achievements. He is enthusiastic about his faith and sees clearly that attaining the position of regional representative in the LDS Church means nothing compared to what God really wants from him, to be a sincere and charitable follower of Christ and great husband, dad, and friend. He takes delight in simple pleasures and songs with silly, but clever lyrics, especially country music, such as the song, “Friends in Low Places.”
In 2010, Christensen wrote an article for the Harvard Review called, “How will you Measure Your Life,” which went viral in a very short amount of time. To read it, click here.
In March, 2011, Christensen was featured in an article in Forbes Magazine, in which he spoke freely about his health issues and his Mormon faith. To read it, click here. Christensen is one of those famous Mormon businessmen who has been guided by his faith and guides others through his successful grasp on business principles.
