1. Innovate by finding your life’s purpose: Professor Christensen outlined how important it was for him to ask and discover his purpose in life early on in his career. While a student at Oxford University in the UK, he took a time slot of his highly demanding daily schedule of his applied econometrics degree to meditate and discover who he truly was and what he wanted to become. That gave him the certainty to pursue a life full of achievements and satisfactions, both personally and professionally.
My personal takeaway: It is definitely very important to put a stake on the ground and discover who you are and who you want to be. When you do this, the Universe conspires for your success. In fact, as we launched our venture, I wrote the AuthorsGlobe Manifesto which I found as a great way to clarify to the world where our passion is and what we stand for. How about for you?
2. Innovate by setting boundaries: “A few of my Harvard Business School colleagues ended up in jail,” Christensen commented. “They crossed the line and broke a boundary and when this happens, it is too late to turn back.” His HBS colleague, Jeff Skilling, former CEO of Enron, certainly crossed the line of greed for money that ended in the well-known debacle of the company in early 2000 and jail time for him. Christensen also shared the story of how he took a tough stance while at Boston Consulting Group, asking his supervisors not to ask him to work on weekends and extra hours. “My personal time for family and God was extremely important to me and I wanted BCG to respect that boundary. If I crossed that boundary just once, you all know what would have happened.” He further commented that it was tough since many of his colleagues would put 80 – 100 hours per week of work.
My personal take away: By choosing to be a Conscious company, i.e. as a “not-only-for-profit-company”, a balanced stakeholder approach is at the core of our values. We are mindful that our employees, customers and investors be empowered, appreciated and delivered great value. Taking time out from our busy schedule to actively give back by investing “Time, Talent and Treasure” in social educational ventures like More Than Words is equally as important as time spent in running our business. In fact, next Wednesday 3/24, we are having a free event supporting More Than Words, featuring Dr. Raj Sisodia presenting on “Conscious Leadership.” If you are interested, you can register here. What is ONE boundary you have set that we can learn from?
3. Innovate by focusing on family rather than money: “Money does not bring happiness,” Christensen commented. With a career full of achievements & recognitions, for him it all came back to the core of family values. The extra hour on the spreadsheet at 6 pm certainly had lesser value than a family dinner.
My personal take away: Spending time with family & friends always yields the best return. Having a family with twin boys has definitely helped me to strive for the right balance between business & personal time. I cannot say I am completely there, but I am trying hard. What core value(s) have helped you to innovate in ways you never thought possible?
Professor Christensen certainly touched the hearts and souls of everybody present in the lecture. He is certainly a great example of career achievement, discipline, integrity, family values, gratitude and open heartedness that keeps on giving back. He shared with us true lessons on how to innovate our lives to become better, loving human beings.
We wish Christensen continued strength and strong faith as he receives treatment for a recently diagnosed cancer.
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