How Will You Measure Your Life - Book Report/Review Example

 “How Will You Measure Your Life?” Clay Christensen, the author of ‘How Will You Measure Your Life’ is a professor at Harvard Business School. Christener, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon; the co-authors of the book, try to associate the family with career life as the major theme of their work. Approximately 200 pages of the text focus on ‘Finding happiness.’ However, the last section focuses on a different theme, which Christener calls “Staying out of Jail.” Although the author presents that work in self-help slang, he avoids the illusionary and maudlin console that he expresses in the “you can do it too” writing genre. He does not focus primarily on exceptionalism or explanations; he anchors the book on the contrary premise that no one is special. He points out that life is both hard and rewarding; hence we must grapple with it. This paper gives a comprehensive book review of ‘How Will You Measure Your Life?’ The review discusses the author, the genre used in the book, the book title, and its contents. The book characters, themes, arguments, and primary ideas are also focused in the paper. In the concise book, Christener, who is famous for his disruptive innovations theory, reflects on the lessons learned in his long-term career ranging from business to academia. He also focuses on how the lessons from the corporate culture, the motivating factors in hiring employees, as well as business ethics learned in the career can be applied to family life. The book highlights on how the careers of entrepreneurship and corporate leadership can provide the people with a mirror in how they perceive their family lives. The author boils the concept down to working with and accepting what we have in our lives. He emphasizes that process and purpose are the key factors. The book is an ideal platform for entrepreneurs who have just started their families or those studying in business school. The work is also suitable for those contemplating their next professional directions or starting up businesses. The inability to balance the family life and career is a common problem for entrepreneurs across the world. For that reason, the book provides a guide to those who have focused so much on their professional life and have ended up neglecting their families. It also encapsulates the ethical dimensions in the professional world. The author makes an interesting mention of Skilling Jeffrey, the infamous Enron CEO, who brought the organization down. The same CEO was Christener’s classmate in the business school. It is in the same perception that Christensen tries to elaborate on how some people may end up losing the moral direction and lead to the failure of the companies. According to the book author, many products do not succeed because the corporations have been developed from the wrong outlook. People go into these companies focusing on what they want and not what is important to their neighbors. Captivatingly, all the problems highlighted in the book are addressed through corporate case studies. It provides tangible examples of the business experiences that big brands have incurred especially Honda, Dell, Ikea, and Netflix (Christensen, Allworth, & Dillon, 2012). The case studies help to anchor the work at the practical crossroads of work and life. While the major part his work focuses on conscious and morality, the author appears to avoid earnest idealism. Based on the examples he gives in the work, the Christensen though he does not explicitly say it, develops an argument about it. The modern world has too many shortcuts and scapegoats, and that is what the book aims to stop. Otherwise, Christener warns, people will be set off in the wrong direction. Marginal thinking entails perceiving things from the margins of a narrow purview. The author argues that the problem comes when people are looking at things from the margins where they cannot see the entire picture or the consideration of all alternatives, including who and what one wants to be. That, according to Christener, is what transpired to Blockbuster when it overlooked Netflix after rolling out DVD by post. To avoid such fate, Christener advises that one must decide the kind of person they want to be and the principles they stand for (Christensen, Allworth, & Dillon, 2012). In the entire book, Christensen utilizes appealing theories from different management personnel. He then adopts two major perspectives of the business and the family. With the narrow line of thinking, Christensen can conclude that family management is similar to business management. He points out that both enterprises require effort and time to sustain and maintain them. The book gives three important lessons that people can help for hiring start-ups. Firstly, it is important that managers cease from giving in to credentials in hiring. They should focus on what the corporation needs and align it with the hiring process (Christensen, Allworth, & Dillon, 2012). One of the significant theories used in the book is based on McCall Morgan’s book, “high Flyers” that explains why many organizational leaders make hiring mistakes. Many managers correlate the previous experience of the job candidates. This involves finding the best candidate by understanding the companies they have previously associated with. However, the book explains that the best strategic hiring model is to look for process capabilities. Companies should look for the candidates who have developed career competencies by experiencing failures, facing different situations and challenges. The author brings the discussion to a personal anecdote by explaining how they picked the wrong candidate by looking at the credentials instead of focusing on the person who was familiar with the process. Another important lesson from Christensen's work is that culture starts at the family level before extending to the company. The author discusses the creativity and innovative culture within Pixar. Using Schein’s model, he defines culture as a strategic way of working as a team towards common goals that have been frequently followed and have previously succeeded that people do not even think about trying things the other way (Christensen, Allworth, & Dillon, 2012). Christensen points to why many corporate leaders and entrepreneurs have used the excuse to spend less time with their families in order to make more money. They later find their families suffering and bearing the consequences. The book also elucidates a significant lesson on the danger of marginal thinking. Christensen brings out two case studies of Blockbuster and Netflix. In this case, the latter acquired a dominant position and had taken control of eradicating the former as a distracting business and overlooked everything until it went bankrupt. Many companies have not been able to stay relevant and innovative to change. In most cases, the executives making the decisions strive on marginal thinking with the premise that the current assets of the business are adequate to sustain it. The same perception can apply to people who give in to their “just this one” when faced with moral dilemmas to act unethically in their businesses or careers. Unlike many other business writers, Christensen recognizes and appreciates the importance of theory. He points out that many researchers in the field of business, writers, and consultants create and sell static views and snapshots of technologies, markets, and companies. However, the snapshots tell little about how the companies got there and did not also tell about their direction in the future (Christensen, Allworth, & Dillon, 2012). The book uses the same concept of theories to what is important in everyone’s life. The author starts by discussing some of the organizational leaders caught up in scandals. The book is set out to help the reader answer important questions with regard to “How Will You Measure Your Life.” Firstly, the reader is influenced to think on how he or she can be assured of being happy in the career. At the same time, people must reflect on how they can be sure their relationship with their spouse, the children, the extended family, and close friends becomes a lasting source of happiness. The author also gives the perception of how one can be assured of the life of integrity and stay out of jail. The last concept of the book may appear irrelevant, but it is important given the huge number of Harvard MBAs who have ended up breaking the law through business scandals. The most enjoyable part of the book is the perspective that Christensen has placed on how people should balance family and career life. The work is also a significant source of learning how to integrate career life with happiness. It is by having happy professionals that businesses can thrive and have their profitability increase. Since Christensen has provided his perspective on the same, it is now upon the reader to think about the same and devise their own perspectives. The end of the book is devoted to purpose, with the author asking readers to think critically about the life ahead of them. They must focus on who and not what they would want to be. He asks the reader not to confuse life purpose with priorities. The latter is a default in the modern multi-tasking and hyper-connected world. We all have things to do but what matters is how the things impact life. The conclusion of the book asks the reader to question his or her decision by focusing on what is ahead and outside the self. Reference Christensen, C. M., Allworth, J., & Dillon, K. (2012). How will you measure your life?. New York: Harper Business. Read More