by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth & Karen Dillon.
The title of the book, by Professor Clayton M. Christensen, assisted by his students James Allworth and Karen Dillon, can give the impression that it is for old folks looking back at their lives and ask themselves the question “How will you measure your life?”. It turns out that it is more of a book for young folks, in which Prof. Christensen used his knowledge and experience to advise them how to: (1) find happiness in career; (2) find happiness in relations with family members and friends; (3) stay out of jail. Coming from a long background in business consulting and teaching, Prof. Christensen applied his theories and practice in business to the three areas mentioned above. On finding happiness in career, he introduced the importance of balancing motivators and hygiene factors (a term probably new to non-business folks), essentially arriving at the conclusion summarized by the old saying: “If you find a job that you love, you will never have to work a single day in your life.” He described, rather convincingly, that the question “What job are you being hired for?”, is the right question to ask whether you are trying to increase the sales of milkshakes or in the relation with your spouse. However, it gets a little confusing when he invoked the business theory of “marginal cost” in the chapter on maintaining integrity and staying out of jail. The strategy, in plain English, is simply “do not give in to ‘I’ll do this just this time’” , as this is a slippery slope that often leads to complete loss of integrity and even landing in jail. It is interesting to learn the stories of the success strategies of IKEA, NETFLIX, and the failures of BLOCKBUSTER, US STEEL, among others. The most interesting thing I learned in the book is that parents should engage in face-to-face conversations with their children, starting at as early as one year old. The conversations are to be in fully adult, sophisticated language. Research found that the impact of this on cognitive development was enormous. Unfortunately, this knowledge is too late for me and my wife and too late even for my children. The book has no index. This is rather rare, but not a handicap as the book is short, 206 pages. In summary, for old folks who have led successful careers, they would find resonances in reading the book. For young folks who are about to start or in the middle of their careers, the strategies taught by Professor Christensen should be helpful guides to navigate their journeys through life.
Confucious (Source: Wikipedia)
Link of review in amazon.com.
Review by Kai Fong Lee.
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