Why professional success should not come before personal achievements

The late Clayton Christensen, former Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, is best known for his incisive work on strategy and his book “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” However, it was his book “How Will You Measure Your Life” that shares enduring and prescient lessons that bridge life and career.

The story behind the book is also intriguing. During college alumni reunions more than 20 years ago, Christensen discovered that some people who had been incredibly successful were not personally happy; some had even paid a high price for their ethical mistakes. At the time, Christensen was teaching a course on how to build a sustainable business.

In his article “How You Will Measure Your Life,” he combined some of these business lessons with personal reflections on how we can analyze our careers and lives. In particular, he answers three questions:

How can I be sure that I will be successful in my career?

How can I have successful relationships?

How can I live a life of integrity?Happiness and emerging and dynamic careers
It is essential to align our career path with our personal values ​​and aspirations, as our long-term happiness is tied to finding what matters most to us. Using a business analogy, the book says that a strategy is nothing more than good intentions unless it is implemented effectively. This, in turn, is reflected in where we are investing our time, energy and skills. It raises another critical point: strategy is dynamic and emergent and companies must be prepared to adapt.

Similarly, careers are rarely one-way. The lesson is that careful planning must be complemented by a flexible approach. Christensen talks about his own career path, which was not linear. He started in consulting, then moved into academia and later into the corporate world. His career evolved based on the opportunities and knowledge gained along the way, illustrating the importance of being flexible and adaptable.

Investing in strong relationships
The book talks about the theory of good capital and bad capital: bad capital tries to pursue growth at all costs, while good capital tries to be patient with profitability, not just growth.

The book gives the example of Iridium, a Motorola satellite company whose motto was “Geography is history,” which invested billions without realizing that people didn’t want to carry around cumbersome satellite phones. On the other hand, when Honda wanted to compete in the United States and thought there was room to expand the market for dirt bikes, which were used for off-road cycling, the company took a step-by-step approach, seeking profitability before expansion.

Similarly, the book suggests that in our personal lives we should be patient and invest time and effort into our friendships and family. Strong personal connections are crucial for long-term happiness and well-being.

Christensen uses the analogy of a balanced life portfolio. He talks about how many of his classmates poured all their resources into their careers, neglecting their families and personal lives. Over time, this imbalance led to broken relationships and personal dissatisfaction.

Integrity is not an approximation
The book says, “100% of the time is easier than 98% of the time.” The message is simple: sometimes when it comes to making small commitments, people can think of it as a one-time thing and not worry about it. But even a 2% commitment to integrity can bubble up and become a big problem. His advice on integrity is that keeping it at 100% makes life easier.

He wanted his readers to be prepared to face and navigate ethical challenges, and to know that having a clear set of principles can guide us to make the right decisions.

Christensen has described how he measures his own life not by his professional achievements but by the impact he has on others. Sharing stories of how he helped his students and colleagues, he has emphasized that personal fulfillment comes from positively contributing to the lives of others.