How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen (Success Book Review)

"A strategy—whether in companies or in life—is created through hundreds of everyday decisions about how you spend your time, energy, and money. With every moment of your time, every decision about how you spend your energy and your money, you are making a statement about what really matters to you."

Clayton Christensen (1952-2020) was a Harvard Business School professor and is author of the classic book on management strategy, The Innovator’s Dilemma. But outside the hallowed halls of business schools and chilly corporate boardrooms, Professor Christensen’s most impactful contribution to the rest of us is likely his short book (co-written with James Allworth and Karen Dillon), How Will You Measure Your Life?

It’s a worthwhile read for students, new graduates, parents, everyone really, to help us answer the important questions in life: How do I find a satisfying career? How do I have happy relationships? How do I stay out of jail?

Key Takeaways

1. When choosing your career, focus on motivation factors (challenging work, recognition, responsibility, personal growth) while maintaining an acceptable level of hygiene factors (status, compensation, job security, work conditions, company policies, supervisory practices).
2. Be prepared to experiment with different opportunities, adjusting and pivoting until you find the right thing for you. Do not be afraid to make changes.
3. Your strategy is not what you say it is – it’s shown in how you spend your time, money and energy.
4. Nurture important relationships in your life even when they’re going well, or they may not be there to support you when you need them.
5. Find the right experiences to help your children grow and be there for them when they encounter challenges – do not outsource this.
6. “The only way to avoid the consequences of uncomfortable moral concessions in your life is to never start making them in the first place.”
7. Figuring out your purpose in life is the most important thing you can learn.

Book Highlights

"When we find ourselves stuck in unhappy careers—and even unhappy lives—it is often the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of what really motivates us."

"…there are elements of work that, if not done right, will cause us to be dissatisfied. These are called hygiene factors. Hygiene factors are things like status, compensation, job security, work conditions, company policies, and supervisory practices."

"Motivation factors include challenging work, recognition, responsibility, and personal growth."

"While you are still figuring out your career, you should keep the aperture of your life wide open. Depending on your particular circumstances, you should be prepared to experiment with different opportunities, ready to pivot, and continue to adjust your strategy until you find what it is that both satisfies the hygiene factors and gives you all the motivators."

"Change can often be difficult, and it will probably seem easier to just stick with what you are already doing. That thinking can be dangerous. You’re only kicking the can down the road, and you risk waking up one day, years later, looking into the mirror, asking yourself: 'What am I doing with my life?'"

"A strategy—whether in companies or in life—is created through hundreds of everyday decisions about how you spend your time, energy, and money. With every moment of your time, every decision about how you spend your energy and your money, you are making a statement about what really matters to you."

"The theory of good money, bad money explains that the clock of building a fulfilling relationship is ticking from the start. If you don’t nurture and develop those relationships, they won’t be there to support you if you find yourself traversing some of the more challenging stretches of your life, or as one of the most important sources of happiness in your life."

"Thinking about your relationships from the perspective of the job to be done is the best way to understand what’s important to the people who mean the most to you."

"Children will learn when they’re ready to learn, not when you’re ready to teach them; if you are not with them as they encounter challenges in their lives, then you are missing important opportunities to shape their priorities—and their lives."

"Find the right experiences to help [your children] build the skills they’ll need to succeed. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give them."

"The only way to avoid the consequences of uncomfortable moral concessions in your life is to never start making them in the first place. When the first step down that path presents itself, turn around and walk the other way."

"If you take the time to figure out your purpose in life, I promise that you will look back on it as the most important thing you will have ever learned."