In the spring, Harvard Business School’s graduating class asked HBS professor Clay Christensen to share his principles and thinking, and how they can apply these to their personal lives. So, he shared with them a set of guidelines that have helped him find meaning in his own life. HBR editors believe that these are strategies anyone can use. And so, they asked him to share the principles and thinking with the readers of HBR.

Who's speaking?

Before he published his world-famous book, The Innovator's Dilemma, Clay received a call from Andrew Grove, then the chairman of Intel. Grove wanted Clay to come talk to his direct reports and explain his research, and what it implied for Intel. Excited, Clay flew to Silicon Valley and showed up at the appointed time, only to have the Chairman say: "Look, stuff has happened. We have only 10 minutes for you. Tell us what your model of disruption means for Intel."

The life-changing presentation to the chairman of Intel

Clay said that he couldn't. He needed a full 30 minutes to explain the model, because only with it as context would any comments about Intel make sense. 10 minutes into his explanation, the Chairman interrupted: "Look, I've got your model. Just tell us what it means for Intel." Clay insisted that he needed 10 more minutes to describe how the process of disruption had worked its way through a very different industry, steel, so that he and his team could understand how disruption worked.

Have faith in the process

When Clay finished his story about how a player in the steel industry found a way to undercut traditional steel mills already in the market by inventing minimills, Grove said, "OK, I get it. What it means for Intel is...," and then went on to articulate what would become the company's strategy for going to the bottom of the market to launch the Celeron processor. If Clay had been suckered into telling Andy Grove what he should think about the microprocessor business, he would have been killed.

Remember: People know their own field best

If there are questions to ask yourself that will help you live a life worth living; would you want to know what they are? According to Clay Christensen, to measure your life, find cogent answers to three questions:<ol><li>How can I be sure that I'll be happy in my career?</li><li>How can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and my family become an enduring source of happiness?</li><li>How can I be sure I'll stay out of jail?&nbsp;</li></ol>Here's one of the theories that gives great insight on the first question.

How will you measure your life?

This is my final recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success.

I have a pretty clear idea of how my ideas have generated enormous revenue for companies that have used my research; I know I’ve had a substantial impact.But as I’ve confronted this disease, it’s been interesting to see how unimportant that impact is to me now. I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.I think that’s the way it will work for us all.

Clay was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and faced the possibility that his life would end sooner than he'd planned.He survived for 10 years before his death in January 2020, and even published 2 books in 2011, just a year after his diagnosis: The Innovative University and The Innovator’s DNA (Harvard Business Press).He had this to say about the experience of that diagnosis.

Choose the Right Yardstick.

Editor's Note: When the members of the class of 2010 entered business school, the economy was strong and their post-graduation ambitions could be limitless. Just a few weeks later, the economy went into a tailspin. They've spent the past two years recalibrating their worldview and their definition of success.

How Will You Measure Your Life?

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