Clayton Christensen

クレイトン・クリステンセン　/　くれいとん・くりすてんせん

American priest

April 6, 1952 – January 23, 2020　・　Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Utah
priest
university teacher
writer

My Take

Clayton Christensen was one of those rare thinkers who could hand you a simple framework and completely rewire how you see the world. His concept of disruptive innovation — the idea that scrappy upstarts topple giants not by beating them at their own game but by targeting overlooked customers with "good enough" products — became the lens through which Silicon Valley, boardrooms, and business schools interpreted almost everything from 2000 onward. A Rhodes Scholar out of Brigham Young University, he spent decades at Harvard Business School earning a reputation as one of the most cited management thinkers alive. What I find genuinely moving is that alongside all the intellectual firepower, he was a deeply humble man of faith who wrote openly about what he believed mattered more than strategy. He passed in January 2020, and the field is noticeably quieter without him.

Overview

Clayton Magleby Christensen (April 6, 1952 – January 23, 2020) was an American academic and business consultant who developed the theory of "disruptive innovation", which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century.

1. Profile

Name (English): Clayton Christensen
Name (Japanese): クレイトン・クリステンセン
Reading: くれいとん・くりすてんせん
Born: April 6, 1952 – January 23, 2020
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Aries / Dragon
Origin: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: priest / university teacher / writer / missionary / economist

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: West High School
University: Brigham Young University

Awards & achievements

2014 Herbert Simon Award
1975 Rhodes Scholarship
2016 honorary doctorate

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private