James Drogan

The title of this post comes a from a provocative article by Clayton M. Christensen in the July-August 2010 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Christensen notes:

On the last day of class, I ask my students to turn those theoretical lenses on themselves, to find cogent answers to three questions: First, how can I be sure that I’ll be happy in my career? Second, how can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and my family become an enduring source of happiness? Third, how can I be sure I’ll stay out of jail?

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Your decisions about allocating your personal time, energy, and talent ultimately shape your life’s strategy.

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The lesson I learned from this is that it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time.

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But once you’ve finished at Harvard Business School or any other top academic institution, the vast majority of people you’ll interact with on a day-to-day basis may not be smarter than you. And if your attitude is that only smarter people have something to teach you, your learning opportunities will be very limited. But if you have a humble eagerness to learn something from everybody, your learning opportunities will be unlimited.

It's worth the effort to obtain and read the entire piece by Christensen.  It's eveny more worthwhile to have a good think about what he has to say and how it applies in your life.