Remembering the Lessons of Clayton Christensen
He coined the idea of disruptive innovation, but his life teaches so much more
Clayton Christensen, an esteemed Harvard Business School professor and management expert, passed away on January 23rd, 2020. Remembered as a kind and devout scholar, Christensen became popular in the early 1990s after coining the term “Disruptive Innovation.”
Since its creation, disruptive innovation has become one of the most misused terms in the business world. As the Christensen Institute states, “Disruptive Innovations are NOT breakthrough technologies that make good products better; rather they are innovations that make products and services more accessible and affordable, thereby making them available to a larger population.”
Christensen warned large companies that they risked becoming too good at supplying products to “sophisticated customers.” In doing so, those business giants would overlook the larger market and allow smaller, flexible companies to “introduce a simpler product that is cheaper and thus becomes more widely adopted.” That cheap, widely-used product is an outcome of disruptive innovation.
Combating this threat requires diligence, Christensen wrote. As the professor penned, “To remain at the top of their industries, managers must first be…
