How will your life be measured.
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.
The students seem highly aware of how the world has changed (as the sampling of views in this article shows). In the spring, Harvard Business School’s graduating class asked HBS professor Clay Christensen to address them—but not on how to apply his principles and thinking to their post-HBS careers. The students wanted to know how to apply them to their personal lives. He shared with them a set of guidelines that have helped him find meaning in his own life. Though Christensen’s thinking comes from his deep religious faith, we believe that these are strategies anyone can use. And so we asked him to share them with the readers of HBR.
Before I published The Innovator’s Dilemma, I got a call from Andrew Grove, then the chairman of Intel. He had read one of my early papers about disruptive technology, and he asked if I could talk to his direct reports and explain my research and what it implied for Intel. Excited, I flew to Silicon Valley and showed up at the appointed time, only to have Grove say, “Look, stuff has happened. We have only 10 minutes for you. Tell us what your model of disruption means for Intel.” I said that I couldn’t—that I needed a full 30 minutes to explain the model, because only with it as context would any comments about Intel make sense. Ten minutes into my explanation, Grove interrupted: “Look, I’ve got your model. Just tell us what it means for Intel.”
I insisted that I 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. I told the story of how Nucor and other steel minimills had begun by attacking the lowest end of the market—steel reinforcing bars, or rebar—and later moved up toward the high end, undercutting the traditional steel mills.
When I finished the minimill story, 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.
I’ve thought about that a million times since. If I had been suckered into telling Andy Grove what he should think about the microprocessor business, I’d have been killed. But instead of telling him what to think, I taught him how to think—and then he reached what I felt was the correct decision on his own.
That experience had a profound influence on me. When people ask what I think they should do, I rarely answer their question directly. Instead, I run the question aloud through one of my models. I’ll describe how the process in the model worked its way through an industry quite different from their own. And then, more often than not, they’ll say, “OK, I get it.” And they’ll answer their own question more insightfully than I could have.
My class at HBS is structured to help my students understand what good management theory is and how it is built. To that backbone I attach different models or theories that help students think about the various dimensions of a general manager’s job in stimulating innovation and growth. In each session we look at one company through the lenses of those theories—using them to explain how the company got into its situation and to examine what managerial actions will yield the needed results.
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? Though the last question sounds lighthearted, it’s not. Two of the 32 people in my Rhodes scholar class spent time in jail. Jeff Skilling of Enron fame was a classmate of mine at HBS. These were good guys—but something in their lives sent them off in the wrong direction
The Class of 2010
“I came to business school knowing exactly what I wanted to do—and I’m leaving choosing the exact opposite. I’ve worked in the private sector all my life, because everyone always told me that’s where smart people are. But I’ve decided to try government and see if I can find more meaning there.
“I used to think that industry was very safe. The recession has shown us that nothing is safe.”
Ruhana Hafiz, Harvard Business School, Class of 2010
Her Plans: To join the FBI as a special adviser (a management track position)
“You could see a shift happening at HBS. Money used to be number one in the job search. When you make a ton of money, you want more of it. Ironic thing. You start to forget what the drivers of happiness are and what things are really important. A lot of people on campus see money differently now. They think, ‘What’s the minimum I need to have, and what else drives my life?’ instead of ‘What’s the place where I can get the maximum of both?’”
Patrick Chun, Harvard Business School, Class of 2010
His Plans: To join Bain Capital
“The financial crisis helped me realize that you have to do what you really love in life. My current vision of success is based on the impact I can have, the experiences I can gain, and the happiness I can find personally, much more so than the pursuit of money or prestige. My main motivations are (1) to be with my family and people I care about; (2) to do something fun, exciting, and impactful; and (3) to pursue a long-term career in entrepreneurship, where I can build companies that change the way the world works.”
Matt Salzberg, Harvard Business School, Class of 2010
His Plans: To work for Bessemer Venture Partners
“Because I’m returning to McKinsey, it probably seems like not all that much has changed for me. But while I was at HBS, I decided to do the dual degree at the Kennedy School. With the elections in 2008 and the economy looking shaky, it seemed more compelling for me to get a better understanding of the public and nonprofit sectors. In a way, that drove my return to McKinsey, where I’ll have the ability to explore private, public, and nonprofit sectors.
“The recession has made us step back and take stock of how lucky we are. The crisis to us is ‘Are we going to have a job by April?’ Crisis to a lot of people is ‘Are we going to stay in our home?’”
John Coleman, Harvard Business School, Class of 2010
His Plans: To return to McKinsey & Company
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
What differentiates an attractive website from a repulsive one?
adapted from the Business Daily - 19th July 2010
By RAWLINGS OTINI
Posted Monday, July 19 2010 at 00:00
In a world where businesses are adopting quickly to information technology, websites have become the universal compass — pointing people to data that suits their specific needs in a sea of information.
However, not all websites are worthy revisiting.
What makes the difference between an attractive site and one the puts off surfers?
According to Denis Karema of Authentic Global, a Kenyan web design company, the name of a website must match the industry of the company (host).
It should be short and easy to remember.
This ensures that the visitors refer the site to other prospective visitors easily.
This also means that the client’s needs have been met and the website is easier to use, hence repeat visits.
This also enables search engines such as Yahoo, Google, and Binge — among others — to easily pick up the site during a search.
The quality of a good website is determined by the number of repeat visits and referrals it gets.
“Google ranks pages according to the frequency of visits they get and uses this to prioritise which page comes first during a search,” Larry Page, co-founder of Google told CNBC recently.
The website must be able to load even if the user has low broadband.
“When a website takes too long to load because it has multimedia applications which generally take long to load, sometimes the programmer or designer is not keen on optimising the images in order to make them light enough to load for visitors with low bandwidth,” says Isaac Gatembo of 9Lives Innovations Ltd.
Most websites are rarely updated, ending up displaying information that is outdated.
Such sites tend to turn away visitors since they have nothing new to offer.
A site that was updated several months ago shows that either the host is no longer active or has closed shop in the area specified on the site.
An updated site gives visitors the impression that they are likely to get feedback if they asked questions, hence chances of interaction with the host are high.
A good website must be audience specific, which means it must clearly target its market and should not be vague. This helps readers save time.
“It must meet the needs of the host and those of the reader,” says Mr Gatembo.
The appearance of the site and its design must match the clientele the host seeks to attract.
It doesn’t take too much effort, time, and money to come up with a reasonable looking site, yet there are very many out there that are in desperate need for a facelift.
The most relevant information must be available at first glance.
This includes a one page CV since readers have access to loads of information and the faster they get what they need the better.
Too much information slows down the speed of navigating around the site hence distracts visitors.
“Broken links or links that don’t lead one to what they are looking for turns me off,” says John Kithaka, a regular internet surfer.
Websites that have no physical and telephone contacts give the reader a bad impression.
However, this is acceptable in rare cases where the occupation of the host does not necessarily need physical location.
Clicking the “contact us” button only to receive a form asking for one’s details instead of the contact of the host turns off many.
Unless it is a binding agreement, any forms on the web meant to collect information from the user must be brief.
“Us surfers are very impatient,” says Mr Kithaka.
Dull colours might also turn off people since most internet users are young people.
Too much information scares away visitors, hence simple and brief content is the way to go.
A website should be interactive, with room for people to air their feelings concerning the host’s services.
This helps the host to improve his product offering.
You should work with designers who understand both sales and graphic design because the site must appear professional but simple and easy to navigate.
People are not likely to revisit pages with statements like “site still under construction”, “content not currently available” since there are many alternative sites.
Business website
A business website should not have flashy and contrasting colours unless it is in the fashion design or other art related industry.
“Websites with excessive advertisement pop ups are likely to distract surfers, hence one needs to restrict advertisements or put a link to an advert so that if one wants to see the advert they have to click that link,” explains Mr Karema.
For sites meant strictly for official purposes, a pop up may look odd.
However, the advent of Facebook is shaking traditional marketing strategies, transforming the website from a social networking platform to a business and political arena.
Many entrepreneurs have rushed to showcase their products on Facebook, while organisations including churches and event organisers are turning to the forum to advertise.
By RAWLINGS OTINI
Posted Monday, July 19 2010 at 00:00
In a world where businesses are adopting quickly to information technology, websites have become the universal compass — pointing people to data that suits their specific needs in a sea of information.
However, not all websites are worthy revisiting.
What makes the difference between an attractive site and one the puts off surfers?
According to Denis Karema of Authentic Global, a Kenyan web design company, the name of a website must match the industry of the company (host).
It should be short and easy to remember.
This ensures that the visitors refer the site to other prospective visitors easily.
This also means that the client’s needs have been met and the website is easier to use, hence repeat visits.
This also enables search engines such as Yahoo, Google, and Binge — among others — to easily pick up the site during a search.
The quality of a good website is determined by the number of repeat visits and referrals it gets.
“Google ranks pages according to the frequency of visits they get and uses this to prioritise which page comes first during a search,” Larry Page, co-founder of Google told CNBC recently.
The website must be able to load even if the user has low broadband.
“When a website takes too long to load because it has multimedia applications which generally take long to load, sometimes the programmer or designer is not keen on optimising the images in order to make them light enough to load for visitors with low bandwidth,” says Isaac Gatembo of 9Lives Innovations Ltd.
Most websites are rarely updated, ending up displaying information that is outdated.
Such sites tend to turn away visitors since they have nothing new to offer.
A site that was updated several months ago shows that either the host is no longer active or has closed shop in the area specified on the site.
An updated site gives visitors the impression that they are likely to get feedback if they asked questions, hence chances of interaction with the host are high.
A good website must be audience specific, which means it must clearly target its market and should not be vague. This helps readers save time.
“It must meet the needs of the host and those of the reader,” says Mr Gatembo.
The appearance of the site and its design must match the clientele the host seeks to attract.
It doesn’t take too much effort, time, and money to come up with a reasonable looking site, yet there are very many out there that are in desperate need for a facelift.
The most relevant information must be available at first glance.
This includes a one page CV since readers have access to loads of information and the faster they get what they need the better.
Too much information slows down the speed of navigating around the site hence distracts visitors.
“Broken links or links that don’t lead one to what they are looking for turns me off,” says John Kithaka, a regular internet surfer.
Websites that have no physical and telephone contacts give the reader a bad impression.
However, this is acceptable in rare cases where the occupation of the host does not necessarily need physical location.
Clicking the “contact us” button only to receive a form asking for one’s details instead of the contact of the host turns off many.
Unless it is a binding agreement, any forms on the web meant to collect information from the user must be brief.
“Us surfers are very impatient,” says Mr Kithaka.
Dull colours might also turn off people since most internet users are young people.
Too much information scares away visitors, hence simple and brief content is the way to go.
A website should be interactive, with room for people to air their feelings concerning the host’s services.
This helps the host to improve his product offering.
You should work with designers who understand both sales and graphic design because the site must appear professional but simple and easy to navigate.
People are not likely to revisit pages with statements like “site still under construction”, “content not currently available” since there are many alternative sites.
Business website
A business website should not have flashy and contrasting colours unless it is in the fashion design or other art related industry.
“Websites with excessive advertisement pop ups are likely to distract surfers, hence one needs to restrict advertisements or put a link to an advert so that if one wants to see the advert they have to click that link,” explains Mr Karema.
For sites meant strictly for official purposes, a pop up may look odd.
However, the advent of Facebook is shaking traditional marketing strategies, transforming the website from a social networking platform to a business and political arena.
Many entrepreneurs have rushed to showcase their products on Facebook, while organisations including churches and event organisers are turning to the forum to advertise.
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