Clayton Christensen

Clayton Magleby Christensen (April 6, 1952 – January 23, 2020) was an American academic and business consultant who developed the theory of "disruptive innovation", which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century. Christensen introduced "disruption" in his 1997 book The Innovator's Dilemma, and it led The Economist to term him "the most influential management thinker of his time." He was the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School (HBS).

He was one of the founders of the Jobs to Be Done development methodology. . Christensen was also a co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, a venture capital firm, and Innosight, a management consulting and investment firm specializing in innovation.

Early life Clayton Christensen was born on April 6, 1952, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the second of eight children born to Robert M. Christensen (1926–1976) and his wife, Verda Mae Christensen (née Fuller; 1922–2004). Christensen majored in economics, and was classmates in his first-year economics course with future U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney and future HBS dean Kim B. Clark. He later returned to Harvard for his doctoral study in business, receiving a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree in 1992.

Career 1979–1989 After receiving his MBA in 1979, Christensen began working for Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a consultant and project manager. a consulting and training firm. In 2005, together with his colleagues at Innosight, he launched Innosight Ventures, a venture firm focused on investing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. In 2007, he co-founded Rose Park Advisors LLC (RPA) (named after the Salt Lake City neighborhood where he grew up), an investment company that applied his research as an investment strategy.

He served on the board of directors of Tata Consultancy Services (NSE: TCS), Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC), and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He also served for a time on the editorial board of the Deseret News.

In 2017, Christensen predicted that “50 percent of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. will be bankrupt in 10 to 15 years.”

Personal life After returning to the United States from his LDS Church mission to South Korea, Christensen began serving with the Boy Scouts of America in a variety of roles. Over a period of 25 years, he served as scoutmaster, cub master, den leader, and as a troop and pack committee chairman.

Christensen and his wife, Christine (née Quinn), married in 1976. They had three sons, Matthew, Michael, and Spencer, and two daughters, Ann and Catherine. Their eldest son, Matthew (b. 1977), was a member of Duke University's 2001 National Championship basketball team.

In February 2010, Christensen was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, 2017: Ranked number 3 in the Thinkers 50. "Know Your Customers' 'Jobs To Be Done'", Harvard Business Review (September 2016), Christensen, Clayton M.; Dillon, Karen; Hall, Taddy; Duncan, David. "The Hard Truth about Business Model Innovation", MIT Sloan Management Review (September 2016), Christensen, Clayton M.; Bartman, Tom; van Bever, Derek.

Books The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, (1997) Christensen, Clayton M. The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth, (2003), Christensen, Clayton M.; Raynor, Michael E. Innovation and the General Manager, (2003) Christensen, Clayton M. Seeing What's Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change, (2004), Anthony, Scott D.; Christensen, Clayton M.; Roth, Erik A. Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, (2008), Christensen, Clayton M.; Horn, Michael. The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care, (2008), Christensen, Clayton M.; Grossman, Jerome H.; Hwang, Jason. The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education, (2011), Christensen, Clayton M.;Eyring, Henry J. The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, (2011), Christensen, Clayton M.; Dyer, Jeff; Gregersen, Hal. How Will You Measure Your Life?, (2012), Allworth, James; Christensen, Clayton M.; Dillon, Karen. The Power of Everyday Missionaries: The What and How of Sharing the Gospel, (2013) Christensen, Clayton M. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice, (2016), Christensen, Clayton M.; Dillon, Karen; Duncan, David; Hall, Taddy. The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations out of Poverty, (2019), Christensen, Clayton M.; Dillon, Karen; Ojomo, Efosa.