Summary
Clayton Christensen argues that individuals can find meaning and happiness in life by applying management principles to their personal decisions. Drawing from his own experiences and religious faith, he offers a set of personal guidelines designed to navigate life choices.
The book, born from a request by Harvard Business School graduates seeking wisdom for their personal lives, presents strategies that are accessible to everyone, regardless of their background. It frames life as a measure of success that can be understood through personal application of business thinking.
Key concepts
- Personal guidelines — A set of strategies the author developed to find meaning and happiness in his life.
- Meaning and happiness — The outcome that individuals can achieve by applying specific principles to their personal lives.
- Management principles — The core ideas from business management that the author suggests can be applied to personal life decisions.
From the book
Description: Akin to The Last Lecture in its revelatory perspective following life-altering events, "How Will You Measure Your Life?" presents a set of personal guidelines that have helped the author find meaning and happiness in his life.
Description: In the spring of 2010, Harvard Business School’s graduating class asked HBS professor Clay Christensen to address them—but not on how to apply his principles and thinking to their post-HBS careers. The students wanted to know how to apply his wisdom to their personal lives. He shared with them a set of guidelines that have helped him find meaning in his own life, which led to this now-classic article. Although Christensen’s thinking is rooted in his deep religious faith, these are strategies anyone can use. Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly…
Snippet: He shared with them a set of guidelines that have helped him find meaning in his own life, which led to this now-classic article. Although Christensen’s thinking is rooted in his deep religious faith, these are strategies anyone can use.