How Will You Measure Your Life?

by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon

Copyright 2012 by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon
Published by arrangement with HarperBusiness, an imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
240 pages

Focus Take-Aways
Leadership & Management Consciously choose the kind of person you want to become. Commit to that path.
Strategy
Causality is critical to making good business and life decisions. Beware the difference
Sales & Marketing
between causality and correlation (the coincidental closeness of two factors).
Finance
Human Resources As you pick a direction for your career, distinguish between external hygiene factors,
IT, Production & Logistics such as high pay, and internal motivation factors, like passion for your work.
Small Business The best way to be truly satisfied with your work is to let motivation factors guide you.
Economics & Politics
Industries
Use causal theory, written in if-then statements, to predict what will happen not what
Global Business
you hope will happen.
Career & Self-Development You have three kinds of capabilities: Resources, what you use to do something;
Concepts & Trends processes, how you do it; and priorities, why you do it.
Consciously build the capabilities you (and your children) will need in the future, not just
the ones that matter right now.
Sacrificing for something meaningful will strengthen your commitment to it.
Defining and living your purpose requires creating an image of what success looks like.
Make a commitment to that goal and measure your progress.
Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it all the time.

Rating (10 is best)

Overall Applicability Innovation Style

8 9 7 8

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 Relevance
What You Will Learn
In this Abstract, you will learn:r1) How to use an if-then model to help you find a
fulfilling career, create satisfying relationships and live a moral life; and 2) How to achieve
purposeful goals.

Recommendation
In a time characterized by instant meals, instant messages and instant gratification, it
might seem odd to ask if youre making instant choices you could come to regret. Yet thats
what innovative business experts Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen
Dillon want you to explore. Their sobering, enlightening analysis applies causal business
theory not just to improve your the prospects for a business, but also your personal and
professional life. They explain why causation matters more than correlation, and they
deftly show how to use the if-then principle in work and life. Christensen concludes
this extraordinary book quite a departure from his seminal writing on innovation
with a personal account of his challenges in practicing its principles. getAbstract warmly
recommends this tightly-written, thoughtful guide to making better life choices.

Summary


Just Because You Have Feathers
For centuries, humans have wanted to fly like birds. Early would-be aviators strapped
If the decisions
you make about
on feathered contraptions and flapping wildly often fell to their deaths. Then, in
where you invest 1738, mathematician Daniel Bernoulli published a book on fluid mechanics explaining
your blood, sweat
and tears are not
the concept of lift as applied to flight. It turns out that the correlation between flight and
consistent with wings means little compared to the causality of flight. Birds dont fly because they have
the person you wings. Birds fly because they instinctively use the if-then theory: If they flap their wings
aspire to be, youll
never become that in a certain way, then their bodies lift upward and they fly.
person.
The concept of analyzing issues in if-then terms is a solid business theory that can


work in your personal life as well. To prove that you can trust it, a theory must explain
what causes things to happen and why. Business theories are valid if they work
consistently and apply universally. Firms can use the if-then approach to define issues

and opportunities, anticipate future challenges and predict the specific actions they will
need to take to handle problems as they arise. Individuals can apply this process to assess

and manage personal and professional choices. If-then thinking can help you realistically
forecast what will happen, not what you hope will happen.


What Motivates Us
Worthy purposes You may have hit career obstacles that pushed you in unforeseen and now unsatisfying
rarely emerge
inadvertently...Purpose directions. If so, apply the if-then strategy to define new priorities and focus on achieving
must be deliberately them despite lifes detours. Sometimes you can follow a new strategy directly, and
conceived and
chosen, and then
sometimes you may have to adjust to unanticipated complications. Even amid barriers,
pursued. you can define a new direction and pursue it productively if you know what internal drives


impel you to reach for your goals.

Two schools of thought define such drives: Incentive theory says people work based on
how well they are paid; motivation theory holds that workers give their best efforts to

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 jobs they want to do. Motivation theory states that both hygiene factors and motivation

factors contribute to energy and drive. Hygiene factors cover the elements of work
The siren song of that are generally thought to constitute happiness and satisfaction: status, compensation,
riches has confused
and confounded job security, work conditions, company policies and supervisory practices. Motivation
some of the very factors, which may do more to fulfill your real purpose, include challenging work,
best.

recognition, responsibility...personal growth and making a meaningful contribution.
Motivators inherently harmonize with your essential being. Money is a hygiene factor,


not a motivator. Generous pay wont make you like a job you hate. In fact, you
might be willing to accept a lower salary for work that makes your heart sing. Feeling
accomplished, learning new things and achieving something meaningful give work

powerful impetus. If your jobs motivation factors satisfy these drives, hygiene factors
will matter less.


Be careful not to The Balance of Calculation and Serendipity
confuse correlation In the 1960s, Honda entered the US market with a well-planned strategy to compete with
with causality
in assessing the Harley-Davidson and Triumph in the sale of touring bikes. When unexpected challenges
happiness [you] can crashed that tactic, Honda adopted a more emergent strategy and earned niche success
find in different
jobs. with its Super Cub off-road dirt bike. This shows that if a careful, deliberate strategy
caves in, the answer might be to adopt an edgier tactic for reaching a previously untargeted


market. However, avoid the trap of marginal thinking: Many firms evaluate fresh
ventures by analyzing only the new spin-offs marginal expenses and revenues, and


ignoring the firms existing costs. They leverage past assets for future success instead of
creating new capacity. For instance, Netflix which lacked a legacy infrastructure that
might have hobbled it overtook Blockbuster, whose leaders were too confident in its

historic market dominance and skeptical about online video rental.

When we find On the personal side, be prepared to take a new direction wisely when the time comes.
ourselves stuck in
unhappy careers
Consider the deliberate strategy you used to choose your college major. You may have
and even unhappy changed your mind a few times, set a path and after graduation sought work in that
lives it is often field. You had a plan, but perhaps it didnt hold your interest or stir your passions over
the result of a
fundamental the long range in the real world. Like a challenged company that needs to become more
misunderstanding flexible, now might be your time to consider emergent options for a more satisfying career.
of what really
motivates us. When you find a better path, leave the emergent strategy behind and adopt a deliberate
track again. Assess your options and test your assumptions. With each potential plan, ask


yourself, What has to prove true for this to work? To minimize your risk, realistically
weigh your choices based on actual evidence.


Your Strategy Is Not What You Say It Is
To carry out a strategy, plan how to use your time, money and energy to support


your goals. Unless you allocate your resources wisely, everything you call strategy is
merely intent. For example, ultrasound equipment maker SonoSite intended to make
This approach of
what assumptions
a big sales impact with a newer, smaller machine, but its sales reps kept pushing the
must prove true? firms bigger model because it generated larger commissions. The companys out-of-sync
offers a simple way compensation structure undermined its efforts to sell a sleek, cost-effective product. Your
to keep strategy
from going far off- allocation of resources reveals your real strategy. As feminist author Gloria Steinem said,
course. If we ask the We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs. The same applies to how
right questions, the
answers generally you use your personal time and energy. Assess how you balance your family, career,
are easy to get. community, religion and other concerns. Everyone makes small but critical decisions


constantly. In business and your personal life, if you make them heedfully, youll be less
likely to default to expedient or harmful solutions.

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 Finding Happiness in Your Relationships: The Ticking Clock

When investors capitalize a business, they want it to grow and to make money. The good
Strategy...is a money and bad money business theory sums up why some companies prosper and some
continuous, diverse
and unruly process. do not. Good money can take a bad turn in three steps: First, the investors in a strong
Managing it is business hesitate to put additional money into its next wave of growth. Second, that
very hard the
deliberate strategy
core business stalls after a few years of having survived without growth capital, and it
and...new emerging soon lacks the resources to stay afloat. Finally, backers insist that any new capital they
opportunities fight
for resources.
supply must guarantee a higher, faster return on investment to justify more cash injections.
Sadly, more money often leads to an aggressive pursuit of the wrong strategies, and the
business collapses.



The same lesson about the impact of gradual resource starvation applies to your personal
life, particularly to the decisions you make about allocating your time and attention. When


people try to balance career demands especially in their early years with the demands
of important relationships, the latter often suffer. If you spend your energy on jobs you
think you must do to build a career, you may believe that your loved ones understand you
High
achievers...focus are doing it for them until your work takes over your life. You may not realize how
a great deal on youre neglecting your family and friends until your spouse files for divorce, your kids
becoming the person
they want to be at get in trouble, your pals vanish and you cant reverse your path. To maintain enduring,
work and far too loving relationships, nurture them from the outset.
little on the person
they want to be at
home. What Job Did You Hire That Milkshake For?
People dont buy a product because its customer demographics include their age, ethnic

group or hobby. That might be correlated, but it is not causal. People buy products because
they believe those goods will solve a problem by doing a specific job. In effect, you hire


a product or service to satisfy a need, meet a purpose or do a task. For instance, a major
fast-food firm researched ways to increase milkshake sales and learned, surprisingly,


that many people bought milkshakes as a handy food to enjoy while commuting. The
firm changed its marketing to reflect that niche. Apply the same principle of fulfilling a
Doing things customers needs to improving your relationships. Your spouse, children, friends and co-
together, over
and over, [leads] workers your personal customers have specific needs they want you to fill. Find ways
to a mutual to satisfy those needs as you gain clarity about the jobs they each, in effect, hired you
understanding of
what...we prioritize, to do for them. Make the sacrifices their happiness requires. This will strengthen your
how we solve dedication to your relationships, and you will reap benefits well into the future.
problems and what
really matters.
Think About the Future Before You Outsource
Think twice before you outsource too much. In the early 1990s, Dell Computers

began having Taiwan-based Asus make more of its parts and ultimately handed design,
manufacturing and management to Asus. Having outsourced everything about its


computers that mattered, Dell retained only its brand. By 2005, Dell had to watch
helplessly as Asus created its own PCs. Dells server business still prospers, but it no


longer has a significant share of the consumer PC market.
Companies focus
too much on what Companies and individuals alike must have a better grasp of the nature and value of their
they want to sell assets and abilities that is, the resources, processes and priorities that govern what they
their customers,
rather than what
can and cannot do. A firm that outsources certain capacities runs the risk of losing some
those customers functions that might be critical to its future success. Similarly, individuals who outsource
really need. Whats
missing is empathy.
some or all of their parental duties risk losing valuable opportunities to teach their children
important lessons. Raising kids who can independently solve tough problems and bounce
back from lifes difficulties requires constant, personal engagement.


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 The Schools of Experience

Only one-third of the 1,000-plus executives who responded to a survey said that they
Left unchecked made superb hiring and promotion choices. The other leaders said their choices were
long enough,
once or twice adequate or wrong. University of Southern California business professor Morgan
quickly becomes the McCall warns that hiring officers mistakenly tend to recruit natural-born heroes. He
culture.

argues that a rsum of star credits does not cause top performance. McCall instead
advocates recruiting potential employees with experience that applies to the open job,


including past failures that taught them crucial lessons. Thats why you want to gain a
variety of experiences that applies to your goals. The same concept relates to raising
children. Expose your kids to people and situations that challenge their knowledge, values,

decision-making skills and ability if you want to build deep interpersonal relationships
and to raise adults who can thrive independently.

The marginal cost
of doing something The Invisible Hand Inside Your Family
just this once Successful firms create a culture of values. MIT professor Edgar Schein defines corporate
always seems to
be negligible, but culture as a way of working together toward common goals [such that] people dont
the full cost will even think about trying to do things another way. Pixars creative process encourages
typically be much
higher. extremely candid collaboration. This culture has fostered a self-managing firm where
leaders trust employees with detailed work, and they produce consistently great results.


Families can enjoy the same benefits if they proactively establish a pervasive culture
where parents and children trust each other to follow established priorities, to make


decisions according to stated values. Choose goals that matter to your family, and
engineer the culture to fortify those targets.

Always be diligent in choosing between right and wrong. Never do something tempting

A culture happens,
just this once, even if the low cost of a rare slip is alluring. Every time you face such a
whether you want it decision in the future, youll be tempted to go astray. At an extreme, you may end up in
to or not. The only
question is how hard
unimagined straits. In 1995, a Barings Bank trader snowballed a relatively small error
you...try to influence into a loss of $1.3 billion that killed the 233-year-old bank. To avoid the dire results of
it. moral concessions, never make one.


Decide on Your Purpose and Stick to It


A firm with a stated purpose will build an enduring legacy. Without such a purpose, its
people may flounder. As an individual, you also need a purpose that defines the worth of
your life. You need to decide what you stand for and then stand for it all the time. To

develop your purpose, focus on three areas:

The appeal of 1. Likeness Like an artist creates a sketch of a proposed oil painting, build an image
easy answers of of what you want to look like at critical points in your life. Follow that vision.
strapping on wings
and feathers is 2. Commitment Hone an unwavering dedication to achieving this self-portrait that
incredibly alluring. is strong enough to keep you on your path despite unexpected circumstances.
3. Metric Establish a measurable standard by which you can assess your deviation
from or progress toward your goals. Ask yourself, How will you measure your life?

About the Authors

Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen wrote The Innovators
Dilemma. James Allworth is a fellow at the Forum for Growth and Innovation. Karen
Dillon edited the Harvard Business Review and American Lawyer.
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