What’s in it for you? Learn how to develop as a professional and as a person.
Author Clayton M. Christensen is an expert in business innovation. After spending years collaborating with other leading experts and in successful companies, some founded by himself, he realized that the value of a person’s life must be more than just the time he or she spent in an office.
With insightful examples of how to develop as a professional and as a person.
With insightful and grounded examples from all his years in the business world, Christensen is a skillful guide for readers hoping to achieve the career path of their dreams. However, as a family man and cancer survivor, Christensen can also speak from the heart about work/life balance.
With insightful and grounded examples from all his years in the business world, Christensen is a skillful guide for readers hoping to achieve their dream career path.
In these summaries you’ll discover that motivation, not money, is what creates job satisfaction, and that, beyond how hard you work and how many times you get promoted, the real source of happiness is friends and family.
Through the wisdom gained from his experiences, Christensen shows today’s professionals how to lead a life of balance, integrity and meaning.
In the following summaries, you will also learn the following:
- Why the video rental company Blockbuster was destroyed by the start-up Netflix.
- Why it’s important to be a part of the world’s largest video rental company.
- Why it’s important to let your children make mistakes and even fail.
- Why IKEA’s worldwide success is based on mastery of a simple task.
Motivation trumps money when it comes to job satisfaction.
What do you think would make you happier at work? Maybe a small pay raise would be nice or perhaps more admiration from your peers.
Maybe a small pay raise would be nice or maybe more admiration from your peers.
These assumptions are fairly common. In fact, tangible aspects of the job, such as money and prestige, will not make them happy. If you think otherwise, attend a reunion of alumni from a business career, where you will see how often professional success is marred with personal dissatisfaction, family failures, professional conflicts and even criminal behavior.
Despite all this, an unhealthy model of workplace incentives still prevails. Popularized by economist Michael Jensen and management-theoretic researcher William Meckling, the incentive theory holds directly that the more they get paid, the better they perform.
In light of our alumni reunion example, this theory seems overly simplistic. Moreover, studies have shown that, nevertheless, the hardest-working people work in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). These are people whose work transforms the world, but they earn very little.
It turns out, in fact, that the most hardworking people work in non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
In fact, it turns out that a person’s professional satisfaction and motivation are achieved when his or her work matches his or her needs and interests. Psychologist Frederick Herzberg proposed that our needs and interests can be divided into two categories: hygiene factors and motivational factors. This forms the basis of his two-factor theory.
The two-factor theory.
Hygiene factors include aspects such as general workplace conditions, company policies, supervisory practices and job security. If these aspects are unsatisfactory or lacking, it is a case of poor hygiene which, in turn, generates job dissatisfaction. However, would a job with excellent conditions, but without any possibility of promotion, be satisfactory? Probably not.
Job satisfaction is achieved, instead, when hygiene factors are combined with motivational factors. Motivational factors refer to recognition, responsibility, challenges and personal development.
Mobilization factors refer to recognition, responsibility, challenges and personal development.
Think of an intellectually stimulating job, but with the downside of lousy management. Would it give them satisfaction? Undoubtedly not. Clearly, the confluence of hygiene and motivation is critical, and the following summary presents two strategies for achieving this balance.
A good career strategy involves taking advantage of both the opportunities we anticipate and the ones we don’t.
What is your career strategy? While many people have at least an idea of how they would like to develop professionally, few know how to describe exactly how they plan to achieve their career goals.
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What is your career strategy?
A good starting point is to recognize that career strategies take two different forms: deliberateand emergent. To understand these two criteria, we need to consider how opportunities tend to present themselves in general.
We need to consider how opportunities tend to present themselves in general.
Renowned academic author Henry Mintzberg explains that opportunities also fall into two categories. The first refers to foreseen opportunities, those that we can identify and decide whether we want to take advantage of.
Deliberate strategies are often formulated on the basis of anticipated opportunities. Let’s look at an example from the 1960s from Japanese automaker Honda.
At that time, the Japanese automaker had a very different strategy.
At the time, large motorcycles such as those produced by Harley Davidson were popular in the United States, so Honda decided to launch a line of its own motorcycles in that country as well. The goal was to take advantage of the momentum of the U.S. market, but the poor quality of Honda motorcycles nearly killed the company.
It’s a good example of how Honda’s own line of motorcycles was not only popular in the U.S., but also in other countries.
This goes to show that deliberate strategies don’t always pay off. We can all remember a time when, despite our best efforts, nothing turned out as we had planned! This is where emergent strategies, those that take advantage of unforeseen opportunities come in.These often arise from implementing a deliberate strategy.
Honda found its emerging strategy in the United States by accident. In addition to its larger motorcycles, the company had sent the smaller Super Cub motorcycles for its employees to use. Honda employees rode back and forth through the hills of Los Angeles, and this unusual image intrigued the public to such an extent that it spurred demand for the Super Cub. In the wake of this, Honda adopted the emerging strategy of selling its smaller motorcycles on a large scale, which saved its U.S. operations.
Creating a balance between deliberate and emergent strategies will allow them to take advantage of every opportunity. If they are both calculating and flexible, they will always find the right direction.
Your life is your «business.» To run it well, they must manage resources properly.
When we talk about resources, we tend to think first and foremost of those that relate to business: assets, talent, finances and so on. However, this conception is quite limited.
To better understand how to use our resources, we must first broaden our definition.
To better understand how to use our resources, we must first broaden our definition.
Think about what matters to you, such as family ties, enriching friendships and physical health. In a sense, these aspects of our personal lives are also «business» and the resources we invest in them are our personal time, effort, talent and wealth.
We must first broaden our definition.
However, just as in business, all of our resources are limited. Although there are many goals that we would like to achieve, we must manage our priorities.
It can be tempting to invest all of our resources in a single goal, which, for many, is professional life. However, it is critical to make sure that we invest time and effort in other aspects that we also value.
If you take control of the personal resource allocation process, you can avoid the mistake of investing everything in your professional life.
If you take control of the personal resource allocation process, you can avoid the mistake of investing everything in your professional life.
One way to do this is to reconsider the default criteria we tend to follow when allocating our time. Instead of automatically devoting all your time to a work project, first evaluate whether, at this moment, the project is really what matters most in your life or if there are other aspects that deserve more time, such as family or wellness.
In the particular case of high performers, a common mistake is to prioritize immediate rewards over those that reap long-term rewards. It’s easy to become obsessed with a promotion or a future bonus.
The satisfaction these give is instant, but short-lived. Long-term goals, such as raising your children well, while gradual and challenging, will give you a much more valuable and lifelong reward. In the next summary, we will explore this point further.
Relationships with family and friends are the most important sources of happiness.
If you are outstanding professionals, you may feel that the effort you put into work is the most rewarding thing in life.
If you are a professional, you may feel that the effort you put into work is the most rewarding thing in life.
However, the effort they put into family life also bestows valuable rewards. It just so happens that the latter may not be seen for many years. Unfortunately, underinvesting in these long-term aspects will not allow them to flourish in the end.
What a relationship needs most is constant attention and care. This can be difficult to provide, and the reason is twofold.
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First, we are always tempted to invest our resources in a task that rewards us immediately, i.e., our work. After work, we could easily devote a 30 minute free time to family. But, often, colleagues and work projects that demand your attention, as well as the promise of earning money, soon erase the thought of your family from your mind.
Secondly, those who have a family to think about can’t afford to spend time with their families.
Second, those with whom they have deep relationships (family, friends) are rarely the ones who demand their attention the most. On the contrary, they are likely to be uncomplainingly supportive of your professional life. But remember, that doesn’t mean they don’t need you.
In a sense, relationships reflect a paradox. They need constant dedication even if it seems unnecessary. Apparently, many people think they can compensate for neglecting their loved ones by devoting more attention to them later.
However, the damage done to a family in its early stages will manifest itself later in the form of problems. For example, research shows that the stage that most influences the development of children’s intelligence is their first year of life, so the way parents talk to them in that period will shape their lives as thinking beings.
Finally, don’t be afraid to talk to your children in their first year of life.
Finally, not only does your family need you, but, at some point, you will depend on them as well. If you neglect these relationships, you run the risk of losing their support when they need it most.
Intuition and empathy help us accomplish the mission of making our loved ones happy.
Often, it seems that companies are so intent on selling a product that they lose sight of the real needs of the consumer. Unfortunately, many people treat relationships the same way.
The real work, as it turns out, is the real work.
The real job, whether it’s your family or your business, should always be to understand and meet the needs of others.
It’s not an easy job.
It’s not an easy job. There are two tools that can help you: intuitionand empathy. A marriage works when both spouses know what is expected of them. However, it takes practice to acquire the empathy and intuition necessary to understand these expectations.
It takes practice.
For example, a man comes home from work one day to find the kitchen a mess. He intuitively assumes that his wife had a difficult day and decides to tidy up. He expects his wife to thank him for it, but is surprised to find her, on the contrary, upset.
She complains.
She complains that it is very difficult to take care of two such demanding children, as she can’t talk to another adult all day. What she needed most was simply for her husband to listen to her.
She was so upset.
In this case, the husband’s initial intuition was wrong. But, because of this experience, he will learn to be more sensitive to his wife’s needs in the future.
Another way to improve your relationship is to think of it as a job. A key question that deJake Ask yourself is, «Which job requires more of me my family, my friend or my partner?»
And if so, what is it?»
It’s a good way to improve your relationship.
The Swedish home furnishings company IKEA can provide an example. What customers need is to furnish their homes quickly and inexpensively. Therefore, the company’s job is to meet this need effectively. That is why the company does not sell a specific style of furniture: its work is more general.
Because they see their needs met, IKEA customers remain loyal. The same goes for relationships: if you understand and do the job your loved ones require of you, they will remain loyal to you.
Raise your children well: let them learn from their mistakes and celebrate their good behaviors.
Of all the jobs you have in life, one of the most important is to raise your children. This doesn’t mean teaching them everything there is to know, but rather giving them the tools to learn it on their own.
The best way to educate your children is to teach them everything they need to know.
The best way for children to acquire values of their own is to allow them to face challenges and find solutions independently. Such challenges might include having a disruptive teacher, learning a new sport, or dealing with gangs or bullies at school.
Presenting everyday problems to children at an early age will build their self-esteem in a healthy way. You may be reluctant to let your children pursue goals on their own or want to prevent them from making mistakes. However, don’t be afraid to let them fail. It is much more important for a parent to be there to support your children when they make mistakes, as they learn and grow.
Another vital aspect is that you can help your children learn and grow.
Another vital aspect of parenting is establishing a healthy family culture. The foundation of this is family values: an informal, but highly effective system of guidelines that will prepare your children for whatever challenges they face, even as they grow into adulthood.
When creating a family culture, it is very helpful to think of it as being on autopilot. Once it’s programmed, it works perfectly on its own.
When creating a family culture, it’s very helpful to think of it as an autopilot.
Suppose you want your family to be distinguished by kindness. You can help program this value by taking every opportunity to insist on its importance. Such opportunities could be something as simple as talking to your children about bullying or praising them when they are compassionate. In this way, kindness will become a central part of your family culture.»
It’s easy to fall into a rut.
It’s easy to fall into the mindset that raising children revolves around controlling bad behaviors. In fact, this negative approach is far less effective than the opposite, that of celebrating the good in your family in everyday relationships. The set of values that emerges as a result will be well established and able to weather any storm.
Putting integrity at risk can create a slippery slope, so don’t do it!
What does it mean to live life with integrity? It’s not just about our decisions when faced with a dramatic moral dilemma.
It’s not just about our decisions when faced with a dramatic moral dilemma.
Integrity arises rather from the decisions we make every day. Thus, integrity requires constant self-awareness.
We must remain aware of the marginal thinking trap. We can illustrate this danger with the example of the DVD rental company Blockbuster. Blockbuster was aware of its emerging competition Netflix, an online movie rental company, but underestimated it as a threat and as a reason not to expand its business strategy to DVD rental by mail order.
But, while Blockbuster did nothing, Netflix crushed its competitors; so much so that Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Although the company was spared the marginal cost of matching Netflix’s innovative business model, it had to pay the ultimate cost of mismanagement: commercial failure.
By the end of the day, Blockbuster had failed.
Now you know that focusing on marginal costs when facing business decisions can be disastrous. Marginal thinking is even more dangerous when a person’s conduct is at stake from a moral standpoint. In such cases, it is absolutely critical to avoid making reckless decisions as individuals, whatever the situation.
Have you ever made a decision that went against your convictions, but justified it as something you would do «just this once»? Let’s look at an example of just how damaging these exceptions can be.
Nick Leeson was a stockbroker whose fringe thinking caused the downfall of Barings, a British merchant bank. After suffering losses on some stock trades, he decided that «just this once» he would hide this loss in an uncontrolled trading account.
Nick Leeson was a stockbroker whose marginal thinking caused the downfall of Barings, a British merchant bank.
As he tried to cover up his increasingly irresponsible actions, he fell into a vicious cycle and soon went to the extreme of falsifying documents and misleading auditors, until he accumulated a loss of $1 300 million. Leeson was arrested and sent to prison, and Barings, after declaring bankruptcy, was acquired by a competitor for as little as £1.
Final summary
The key message of this book:
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The most successful professionals are those who invest their resources not only in work, but in their family and lifestyle. By taking responsibility for tasks outside the workplace, such as raising our children, caring for a spouse or leading a life of integrity, we can achieve the balance we aspire to between work and life. Only then can we achieve true happiness.
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Practical tips:
Don’t be afraid to let your children solve problems on their own.
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You probably only think about the good of your children when you give them what they want. The truth is that they need to face challenges, perhaps learning to play a musical instrument, playing a sport or acquiring social skills. This presents problems to solve, teaches them values, and gives them experiences in which to participate.
Maternalism is a way of life.
Suggested additional reading material:The Innovators’ Dilemma, by Clayton M. Christensen
The Innovators’ Dilemma.
The Innovators’ Dilemma explains why so many established, well-managed companies fail miserably in the face of disruptive technologies and the emerging markets the latter help create. Through historical examples, Christensen explains why it is precisely those companies with «good» management that leave the big fish so vulnerable.