The world of business lost a giant thinker recently, who by all accounts was a fabulous person. I’m referencing Harvard’s Clayton Christensen, perhaps best known for his thinking and books focused on The Innovator’s Dilemma.

Wally Bock and I connected on our Leadership and Management Book Talk podcast recently to talk about Christensen and his books, including The Innovator’s Dilemma, How Will You Measure Your Life, and Competing Against Luck. Perhaps no surprise to regular listeners, we disagree on our favorites but come to the same conclusion on the work of this wise man.

Enjoy!

Show Highlights:

Wally shares his view on the impact of Clayton Christensen to our business and life thinking (1:20)

The power and impact of Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma (4:00)

The term “disruption” has taken on a slightly different tone than Clay intended  (5:35)

Art shares some examples of The Innovator’s Dilemma he lived during his career in technology (6:15)

Wally suggests why we should re-read The Innovator’s Dilemma and Art tags on a suggested 2015 Harvard Business Review article (What is Disruptive Innovation) (9:00)

Art shares an overview of his favorite book of Christensen’s: How Will You Measure Your Life (10:40)

Wally adds his thoughtful, detailed views on How Will You Measure Your Life (13:50)

We discuss what age group might benefit the most from Measure (and yes, if you listen closely, you’ll hear my cat announce himself in the room) (17:00)

A comparison/contrast between Measure and Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture (18:19)

Wally suggests Competing Against Luck as another great Christensen book, based on the Jobs to Be Done theory and makes a strong case for matching the book with The Innovator’s Dilemma as a dual read (20:20)

We talk about the famous “milkshake” example from Competing Against Luck that illustrates the Jobs to Be Done theory. Wally provides a shout-out to Bob Moesta of The Rewired Group for his work with the “milkshake” example.  (22:00)

Wally caps off our discussion about Clayton Christensen’s books and his contributions to our thinking in business and life (24:45)

Check out Wally’s Goodreads reviews for insights on these and many other books.

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