It is a pleasure to welcome a great friend of Clay Christensen, yet another soul deeply touched by the man, the author of “Stall points” and author of the 2014 paper, The Capitalist’s Dilemma, Derek van Bever.
Like an old machine emitting a new and troubling sound that even the best mechanics can’t diagnose, the world economy continues its halting recovery from the 2008 recession. Look at what’s happening in the United States: Even today, 60 months after the scorekeepers declared the recession over, its economy is still grinding along, producing low growth and disappointing job numbers.
One phenomenon we’ve observed is that, despite historically low-interest rates, corporations are sitting on massive amounts of cash and failing to invest in innovations that might foster growth. That got us thinking: What is causing that behaviour? Are great opportunities in short supply, or are executives failing to recognise them? And how is this behaviour pattern linked to overall economic sluggishness? What is holding growth back?
Most growth theories are developed at the macroeconomic level—at 30,000 feet. That perspective is good for spotting correlations between innovation and growth. To understand what causes growth, however, you have to crawl inside companies and the minds of the people who invest in and manage them. This article (which builds on a New York Times piece Clay wrote in late 2012) attempts to form a theory from the ground up by looking at company experience.
They are the words of the authors of a beautiful paper; one is Clay Christensen and the other is his collaborator, and someone you know would have co-authored at least one book with Clay. Indeed, I feel this article was headed towards becoming a book.
It is a pleasure to welcome a great friend of Clay Christensen, yet another soul deeply touched by the man, the author of “Stall points” behind me on the shelf and author of the 2014 paper, The Capitalist’s Dilemma, Derek van Bever.
Clayton Christensen mentored Bob Moesta, and they became fast friends. Bob was one of the principal architects of the Jobs To Be Done theory. He expands on the theory and shares his respect for his friend Clay.
Today’s book is a book about progress.
Yes, it’s a book about innovation—and how to get better at it.
But at its core, this book is about the struggles we all face to make progress in our lives.
If you’re like many entrepreneurs and managers, the word “progress” might not spring to mind when you’re trying to innovate.
In, “How Will You Measure Your Life?”, Clay Christensen and Karen Dillon apply the theories developed by Clayton Christensen to our lives.
Karen Dillon joins us to share concepts from her book How Will You Measure you Life co-authored with her friend, Clay Christensen
The genesis of today’s book centred on a question posed years ago to “disruptive technologies” coauthor Clayton Christensen: where do disruptive business models come from? Christensen’s best-selling books, The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Innovator’s Solution, conveyed important insight into the characteristics of disruptive technologies, business models, and companies.
What this means in practice is that the new- and-different must be separated and even protected from the tried-and-true. As Mark says, “To play a new game on a new field requires a new game plan.”
—Clayton M. Christensen
Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn’s “Disrupting Class” is an unsettling title for a book about the schooling process.
The title conveys multiple meanings.
The principal message is that disruption can usefully frame why schools have struggled to improve and how to solve these problems.
Today’s book shows how to use the theories of innovation developed in The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Innovator’s Solution—and introduces some new ones. The book argues that it is possible to predict which companies will win and which will lose in a given situation–and provides a practical framework for doing so. We are joined by a long-time collaborator, friend and student of both Clayton Christensen, and he is a long-time friend of this show, Scott D. Anthony.