Harvard Business Review

MARCH 19, 2012

After studying Hollywood actors for three years, MIT Professor Ezra Zuckerman found that actors who typecast themselves (PDF) early in their careers tend to earn more money, have longer lifespans, and enjoy more fame compared to generalist actors. Over the long term, that is a career strategy with diminishing returns.

Career 14

Career Long-term Christensen CFO 14

LDRLB

MAY 26, 2014

One of the things I think is most interesting is there’s a lot of old models of innovation and of strategy that I won’t say they don’t necessarily apply anymore, but they apply to very, very, almost static markets. In that sense, the Christensen solution has become counterproductive; in fact, it’s become dangerous.

Early Adopters 60

Early Adopters Rogers Disruptive Innovation Innovation 60

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Everyone aspires to have purpose or meaning in their career but how do you actually do that? Here are principles you can follow to find a career — and a specific job —­ you don’t just enjoy, but love. For example, if you enjoy connecting with people, you could use that skill to be a psychologist or a marketer.

Career 8

Career How To Finance Case Study 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

It's not news to anyone who's looked for a job recently that the days of a monolithic career spent at one company or in one well-defined field are over. Many of us have had to — willingly or out of necessity — rethink our career paths. At six years old, I knew what I wanted to be: a designer. I started out designing cars.

Career 8

Career Christensen Disruptive Innovation Travel 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

The financial risk of a career in entrepreneurship is the chance of spending 20 years in startups with nothing to show for it — neither money nor an impact on the world. The most important way to mitigate risk is to become excellent at either engineering, product, selling, or operations and management.

Career 8

Career Company IPO Christensen 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 5, 2012

When Clay Christensen, his son Matt, and I first launched Rose Park Advisors, we considered bringing on investors at the GP (general partner) level. My abilities were market-tested, validated by bulge bracket firms. Even in the middle of my career, it felt like a punch to the solar plexus. Love your returns. I felt invisible.

Career 14

Career Christensen Disruptive Innovation Learning-by-Doing 14

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 22, 2011

Notwithstanding the considerable career and financial (I am the primary breadwinner) risks involved, it was time to leave my comfortable perch and become an entrepreneur. Six years into my mid-career move, here are some lessons learned from my personal disruptive trajectory: If it feels scary and lonely, you're probably on the right track.

Disruptive Innovation 16

Disruptive Innovation Christensen Metrics Innovation 16

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 26, 2012

As markets rose and bonus pools grew, it was all too easy to celebrate the rising tide of wealth without examining the process that created it. My colleague, Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen, addressed this topic in his HBR article, How Will You Measure Your Life? That is much easier said than done.

Christensen 14

Christensen Self-aware Short-term Long-term 14

N2Growth Blog

JANUARY 13, 2011

Aside from being costly, a flawed execution can cast doubt on management credibility, have a negative impact on morale, taint the brand, adversely affect external relationships, and cause a variety of other problems for your business. All initiatives surrounding new ideas should include detailed risk management provisions.

Blog 413

Blog Innovation Strategic Planning Brand 413

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 16, 2012

Communities of practice, where they share a common career or field of business, will extend your offer because it extends their expertise (like McAfee mavens ). This can change how we organize every single part of these organizations — from what we make, to how we product and distribute, to how we market and sell. Everything.

Christensen 16

Christensen Business Model Decentralization Innovation 16

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 11, 2013

When I suggested to Clayton Christensen that we partner with Hatkoff to create the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards , Clay’s response was : I trust you Whitney. She also believed that Sanofi’s competitive edge was at risk because of this narrow approach to talent management. If you say we should, let’s do it.

Innovation 11

Innovation Christensen Decisionmaking CTO 11

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Once the book had been written, I had to market it. My own publisher, HBS Press, published two the very same month as my book — one of them co-authored by heavyweight Clay Christensen. The desperate-to-prove-himself banker found a chart that showed how the housing market was overpriced. Make sure to seize it.

Succession 17

Succession Diversity Open-book Innovation 17

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 23, 2015

Many of the most common missteps we see companies make would fit nicely in Steve Kerr’s management classic , “The folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B.” Problems can range from entering new markets to addressing everyday concerns such as low employee engagement. This is clearly not easy stuff.

Innovation 8

Innovation Company Six Sigma Constraint 8