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The Innovative University
Book

The Innovative University

Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out

Clayton M. Christensen and Henry J. Eyring
Jossey-Bass, 2011

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Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

Great change is affecting the US higher education industry, whose costs have risen faster than inflation. Clayton M. Christensen, the prophet of “disruptive innovation,” and Henry J. Eyring, a Brigham Young University-Idaho administrator, review the history and “DNA” of two disparate institutions – Harvard and BYU-Idaho – and draw some generalized lessons about educational innovation. The book is by nature episodic, if not disjointed: Here’s what prestigious Harvard does, and why and how it grew. Here’s what BYU-Idaho does, and why and how it grew, based on its Mormon roots and its academic focus, including its willingness to jettison team sports as a distraction. And here are the lessons both colleges demonstrate. These two institutions are very different, but they and their diverse public and private peers face common challenges. While the emphasis on history is heavy at times, getAbstract recommends this detailed study about where education is going to Christensen fans, and to educators and college administrators interested in innovation and confronted with the need to manage change.

Take-Aways

  • American higher education is ripe for “disruptive innovation.”
  • Universities establish their “institutional DNA” early on, and it shapes their future.
  • Harvard is the dominant model for elite higher education in the US.

About the Authors

Clayton M. Christensen founded Innosight Institute and wrote The Innovator’s Dilemma and many other works. Henry J. Eyring, a businessman and BYU-Idaho administrator, wrote Major Decisions: Taking Charge of Your College Education and Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Ewing, which is about his grandfather.

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