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Clayton Christensen

Clayton Christensen Quotes

Professor

Clayton M. Christensen is an esteemed professor known for his contributions to the fields of business management and innovation. Born on April 6, 1952, he is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of 'The Innovator's Dilemma'.

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Famous Clayton Christensen Quotes

“Focus is scary—until you realize that it only means turning your back on markets you could never have anyway. Sharp focus on jobs that customers are trying to get done holds the promise of greatly improving the odds of success in new-product development.”

Trying Mean Done Jobs Realizing Focus Products Development Promise Scary Customers Odds Improving New Products Product Development Turning Your Back

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Intimate, loving, and enduring relationships with our family and close friends will be among the sources of the deepest joy in our lives.”

Joy Our Lives Source Endure Our Family Intimate Close Friends

Author:Clayton Christensen

“You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have in a way that is consistent with your strategy. In the end, a strategy is nothing but good intentions unless it's effectively implemented.”

Ifs Way Want Mean Ends Purpose Clear Resources Strategy Intention Investing Consistent Good Intentions

Author:Clayton Christensen

“One quarter of Medicare beneficiaries have five or more chronic conditions, sees an average of 13 physicians each year, and fills 50 prescriptions per year.”

Years Five Conditions Average Quarters Physicians Prescriptions Medicare Beneficiaries

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Watching how customers actually use a product provides much more reliable information than can be gleaned from a verbal interview or a focus group.”

Use Focus Groups Information Products Customers Interviews Focus Groups

Book:The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Source: The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

“This is one of the innovator’s dilemmas: Blindly following the maxim that good managers should keep close to their customers can sometimes be a fatal mistake.”

Should Sometimes Mistake Following Customers Managers Good Man Maxims Dilemma Innovators Good Manager Fatal Mistakes

Book:The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Source: The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

“Many think of management as cutting deals and laying people off and hiring people and buying and selling companies. That's not management, that's deal making. Management is the opportunity to help people become better people. Practiced that way, it's a magnificent profession.”

People Thinking Way Helping Opportunity Deals Company Cutting Management Profession Selling Buying Magnificent Hiring Buying And Selling

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Because we employ no professional preachers, it means that every sermon or lesson in church is given by a regular member - women and men, children and grandparents.”

Men Mean Children Given Church Lessons Members Men And Women Preacher Grandparent Sermons Corny

Author:Clayton Christensen

“The path I am trying so hard to follow is in fact the one that God my Father and His Son Jesus Christ want me to pursue. It has brought me deep happiness.”

Want Trying Hard Facts Father Jesus Christ Path Son Jesus Christ Pursue Want Me Trying Hard Trying So Hard Deep Happiness

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Steve Jobs and Apple taught us that profit is not the ultimate goal, but rather a consequence of something greater.”

Jobs Goal Greater Taught Consequence Ultimate Entrepreneur Profit Apples Taught Us Ultimate Goal

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Don't worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.”

People Individual Growth Levels Worry Prominence

Book:The Clayton M. Christensen Reader

Source: The Clayton M. Christensen Reader

“If you take away religion, you can't hire enough police.”

Ifs Enough Police

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Almost always great new ideas don't emerge from within a single person or function, but at the intersection of functions or people that have never met before.”

People Persons Ideas Mets Function New Ideas Single Person Intersections

Author:Clayton Christensen

“How can you make sense of the future when you only have data about the past?”

Past Data Make Sense

Author:Clayton Christensen

“You can't find returns in investments you haven't made.”

Made Havens Return Investment

Author:Clayton Christensen

“I have healed the sick by the power of the God. I have spoken with the gift of tongues.”

Sick Tongue Healed

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Innovation simply isn't as unpredictable as many people think. There isn't a cookbook yet, but we're getting there.”

People Thinking Innovation Unpredictable Cookbook

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Christine and I haven't raised our children. A whole community of selfless Christians has contributed to helping them become faithful, competent adults.”

Children Whole Helping Christian Community Havens Adults Our Children Raised Faithful Insecurity Selfless Selflessness Competent Christine

Author:Clayton Christensen

“The answer is the disruptive innovator, an outsider, who creates a product or service for the non-existing consumer in a non-existing market for almost no profit.”

Answers Products Innovation Profit Consumers Outsiders Innovators Disruptive

Author:Clayton Christensen

“We don't hire ministers or priests to teach and care for us. This forces us to teach and care for each other - and in my view, this is the core of Christian living as Christ taught it.”

Care Christian Force Christ Views Teach Taught Core Ministers Priests Christian Living

Author:Clayton Christensen

“Management is the most noble of professions if it's practiced well.”

Ifs Wells Management Noble Profession

Book:The Clayton M. Christensen Reader

Source: The Clayton M. Christensen Reader

“And if your attitude is that only smarter people have something to teach you, your learning opportunities will be very limited. ... When we see people acting in an abusive, arrogant, or demeaning manner toward others, their behavior almost always is a symptom of their lack of self-esteem. They need to put someone else down to feel good about themselves.”

People Ifs Needs Feels Self Opportunity Acting Attitude Teach Self Esteem Behavior Feel Good Esteem Arrogant Smarter Symptoms Abusive Demeaning

Book:The Clayton M. Christensen Reader

Source: The Clayton M. Christensen Reader

“Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success.”

Thinking Ends Resolution Judged Metrics Live Every Day

Book:The HBRs 10 Must Reads Collection (12 Books) (HBRs 10 Must Reads)

Source: The HBRs 10 Must Reads Collection (12 Books) (HBRs 10 Must Reads)

“Children build self-esteem by doing things that are hard and learning what works.”

Children Self Hard Self Esteem Esteem Building Self Esteem Things That Are Hard

Book:Disruptive Innovation: The Christensen Collection (The Innovator's Dilemma, The Innovator's Solution, The Innovator's DNA, and Harvard Business Review article

Source: Disruptive Innovation: The Christensen Collection (The Innovator's Dilemma, The Innovator's Solution, The Innovator's DNA, and Harvard Business Review article

“Each of our children during their high school years went to 'early morning seminary' - scripture study classes that met in the home of a church member every school day morning from 6:30 until 7:15.”

Years Children Home School Church Class Morning Study Mets Members High School Our Children Scripture Early Morning Seminary School Days School Years Church Members Scripture Study

Author:Clayton Christensen

“I have been blessed to see visions of eternity; and events in my future that have been important for me to foresee, have been revealed to me.”

Has Beens Important Vision Events Eternity Blessed My Future

Author:Clayton Christensen

“I have continued systematically to study the Book of Mormon and Bible to understand even more deeply what God expects of me and my family while on this earth.”

Book Earth Study My Family

Author:Clayton Christensen