By
Jorge Manuel Zelaya Fajardo
www.jorgemanuelzelaya.com
January
29th, 2020
Clayton
Magleby Christensen was a distinguished American academic and consultant who
died a week ago at the age of 67 from cancer complications. I never had the
opportunity to meet him personally, which is a real shame because I think I
would have enjoyed receiving a class with him. However, I met him through his
books and his lectures, his interviews and his writings. Christensen was that
kind of intellectual who has all the qualities of a good human being. His
diaphanous clarity and intellectual superiority reached the reader with a real
and human sense. His lines were always
written to serve the student, reader or manager who read them. His tenure as
professor of the Kim B. Clark class of
the Harvard Business School was obtained due, among other things, to a
high level intellectual background: Bachelor of Economics at Brigham Young
University where he won the summa cum laude award , a master's degree in
econometrics from the University of Oxford and then a master's degree in
business administration from Harvard University with high distinction. It was
also there that he obtained his last university degree: the doctorate in
business administration. With his academic training, one would expect a completely focused career on teaching; however Christensen was a human
being above average. Second of eight
children, he was born in the state of Utah in the United States. In his youth
he volunteered in Korea where he learned the language, which he spoke with
extraordinary mastery. Professionally, he was a consultant for the Boston
Consulting Group and General Manager of his own company (CPS Technologies) in the 1980s, then co-founded other companies,
including Innosight Ventures and Rose Park Advisors. He also served as a member
of the board of directors of various private and non-profit organizations, his
participation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter –day Saints, was particularly
outstanding in terms of leadership positions.
Clayton
Christensen wrote 10 books among which, in my opinion, his masterpiece stands
out: The
Innovator's Dilemma (where he
explains to us with an intellectual and pragmatic basis the concept of
Disruptive Innovation). I have decided, with particular emphasis not to
explain this concept in these lines with the sole purpose of provoking, in
those who do not know it, the fervent desire to find out after reading this
essay. The other favorite book of mine
is an extraordinary book called How would you measure your life? (Which I find myself reading in this first
month of the year)
However,
I have decided to write these lines for two main reasons:
The
first one to honor the memory of a giant in its field of
action (it was literally a giant as it
measured 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m)).
The second to share the most important thing I learned from him: The humility of a brilliant professional,
who knowing his talent and ability, had no problem in manifesting it openly.
On
several occasions he expressed that he had never imagined that Steve Jobs
thanked him publicly for the profound influence he had had on him. The same
with what happened with Andy Grove, Intel CEO
¨
I never imagined meeting these people, much less helping them in their
ventures. ¨ - Christensen said more than once.
Now,
from everything learned from Professor Christensen, what stands out in a
special way can be read between the lines in the answer to a question asked by
Harvard Business Review some years ago:
¨
I taught Andy Grove not WHAT to think,
but HOW to think, so he could reach his own conclusions. That
event changed the way I teach. I learned a lot from Andy Grove. When we teach
our students that they must take into account real data, numbers, statistical
facts and analysis (from the past) to make decisions (in the future), we are
somehow condemning them to take action when the game is over. The only solution
for the future is to HAVE A GOOD THEORY and with the lens of that theory, to
test it by executing actions to validate it in a real way. ”
Simply
awesome A clear explanation of an undeniable reality. A wise advice for an uncertain
future. Like everything great, simple to say, difficult to accomplish.
As
a professor, I plead guilty to what Clayton Christensen pointed out. Our data
is from a past that not necessarily when projected will give us the expected
result in the future. We live in a changing and fast world. However, taking the
time to think and reflect on a GOOD
THEORY should be the guide for the future. In the execution of that theory,
the results will prove us right or wrong. Maybe when the results are not
exactly what the theory says, they might come up even better (Serendipity).
Clayton Christensen died of leukemia
complications, but his profound humility in teaching us to be better , will
remain forever.
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