The Professors: Clay & Neil
2020 has unfortunately been a year of devastating loss — COVID19; the killings of Michael Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the subsequent fraying of our societal fabric. In January, a month that in retrospect seems the calm before the storm, we lost two men whom I greatly admired, Dr. Clayton M. Christensen and Neil Peart. Both 67 years old, their passing just two weeks apart. One was a humble giant considered to be one of the world’s leading and most influential management thinkers; one was an intense, introverted and introspective man considered to be one of the world’s leading and most influential rock drummers.
In some respects, Clay and Neil were very different people. However, there are some parallels I’d like to explore that will hopefully resonate to those who have admired both, and perhaps intriguing to those only familiar with one or the other.
They had a way with words
Clay Christensen was an exceptional thinker with deep insights for business leaders and his students. He made these insights more powerful and enduring through his ability to tell stories and phrase his thoughts in a memorable way. One of my favorites is “Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go.” And for those of us who are Jobs To Be Done theory enthusiasts, we know that none of us will ever tell the milk shake story the way Clay told it.
Neil Peart was a masterful drummer, but the band Rush would not have been what it was without his skill as a lyricist. One of my favorite Rush songs The Spirit of Radio opens with these lines that put you in a joyous and comforting place, wherever you may be:
Begin the day
With a friendly voice
A companion, unobtrusive
Plays that song that’s so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood
Off on your way
Hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the spirit ever lingers
Undemanding contact
In your happy solitude
In addition to his work with Rush, Neil was an accomplished author of seven nonfiction books focused on his extensive travels and personal stories. The depth and quality of reflection and observation found in these works are exceptional.
They were unusual within their context
Clay taught business theories that have guided many business leaders over decades. It’s been well-documented that Steve Jobs was particularly moved and influenced by The Innovator’s Dilemma. Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, has attributed much of his company’s success to Clay’s teachings.
However, in 2010, Clay’s speech to Harvard Business School’s graduating class went well beyond business. He drew upon his business theories to challenge his students with a big question: How Will You Measure Your Life? Ultimately his speech became an immensely beloved and popular book of the same title. Professor Christensen was interested in far more than creating better business leaders; he wanted to create better people, better spouses, better parents and children. Clay was not the only teacher to seek to enrich the lives of his students, but the importance he placed upon it and his impact was unique.
Rush was active for 40 years, with Neil behind the drums for 34 of them. While the band didn’t abstain from the rock ’n’ roll touring lifestyle, they certainly didn’t fit the mold, often preferring to watch TV in their rooms after a show. In the documentary Behind the Lighted Stage, Gene Simmons of Kiss expressed his bewilderment with Rush’s more sedate post-show activities: “I just never understood it…what the [expletive] did you do when you went back to your hotel room?” Even within Rush, Neil was unusual. In the same documentary, bandmate Geddy Lee admitted: “He was one of the weirdest people we’d ever met, just because we’d never met anyone that was so literate and opinionated.”
Reflecting on the early Rush tours, Neil stated: “What more perfect, portable education than having a lot of free time on your hands and bookstores everywhere, so for the next few years I started filling those hours reading.” His bandmates soon realized that someone so literate could probably write pretty good lyrics. And they were right. Neil’s vast interest in science fiction, fantasy and philosophy reshaped Rush’s music to intellectually lofty heights, creating many memorable moments and experiences for their fans.
They overcame overwhelming life challenges
In February 2011, David Whelan of Forbes gave an extensive account of Clay’s monumental health challenges that unfolded over time and eventually exploded. Early in life, at age 30, Clay was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. In 2007, he suffered a major heart attack, a “widowmaker” that required an immediate stent. Then, in December 2009, Clay experienced severe pain in his lower back. The same ED physician who fielded his heart attack did an ultrasound, suspecting an aneurysm. Instead they found three large tumors — against his back, wrapped around his esophagus, and behind his clavicle. The diagnosis was follicular lymphoma, ultimately requiring chemotherapy over two years.
During this time, in July 2010, Clay suffered a stroke while talking to a group at church, in front of his son Matthew. While his motor skills and analytical abilities were not significantly impacted, he lost his speech. This brilliant man, a master of thought and words had to painstakingly relearn how to talk. Clay told Forbes: “I’m an optimistic person. But for the first time in my life, with all my problems, I focused more and more on me — and it was depressing, literally.”
Clay persisted and, profoundly aware of his remaining time on Earth, continued to seek larger business and global problems to tackle. His last book, The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty, was published in 2018, in collaboration with his dear colleagues and friends Karen Dillon and Efosa Ojomo. I was fortunate to see him speak and meet him in October 2017. He was in fine form, though as he would admit to the crowd, the occasional word was hard to find — in his typically humble fashion, he told us to feel free to shout it out to help him if he stumbled!
Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria told an incredibly touching story on the 1/29/2020 HBR Presents After Hours podcast about Clay at a time in which his health was in its final decline and walking had become difficult. Clay came to Dean Nohria’s office and said “I don’t think I have the capacity to teach one class anymore, but would it be OK if I went in my wheelchair and spent as much time as I could in all the classes that are being taught of BSSE? I’ll let other faculty members teach the class, but I just want to be there for them and the students, so that if there is anything I can offer, I might be able to offer it.” Every day, early in the morning, Dean Nohira would see Clay’s wife, Christine, pushing Clay in a wheelchair up the path to the school so that he could be there for his colleagues and students, despite the toll that it may have taken on his strength.
On the night of August 10, 1997, a police car arrived at the home of Jackie and Neil Peart, bearing terrible news: their nineteen-year old only child, Selena, lost her life returning from their Quebec lake house to Toronto, where she was to begin university. While Neil was devastated, Jackie was, for all practical purposes destroyed, frequently speaking of ending her own life. He took her to London, in hopes of finding their way back from the abyss in a different locale.
In January of the following year, just before coming home from London, Jackie was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In Neil’s words, “Jackie received the news almost gratefully — as though this was the only acceptable fate for her, the only price she could pay”. Two months later, her agony ended in Barbados — while Neil’s reached a new and unbearable level.
Neil told his story of loss and recovery in the incredibly captivating and moving book, Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. In August 1998, he set out on his red BMW motorcycle and trekked alone throughout North and Central America — 55,000 miles stretching from the Arctic Circle to Belize. Over the course of more than a year, he found the resilience to deal with his pain and somehow enjoy life again. He married photographer Carrie Nuttall in 2000, and they had a daughter, Olivia in 2009. He returned to Rush in 2001 and the band continued to record and perform at a high level of creativity and proficiency until 2015. Unknown beyond his inner circle, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2016, which claimed him this past January.
Lives Fully Lived
Clay and Neil left us earlier than we would have liked. Many of us would treasure Clay’s next book, or Rush’s next album. But they gave us everything they had, through relentless determination.
Rush’s last studio album was entitled Clockwork Angels, released in 2012. Its final track, The Garden, is a beautifully crafted conclusion for their 40-year body of work that I am physically incapable of listening to without tearing up. Clay and Neil diverged significantly on their perspectives on faith. However, these last lyrics from Neil reveal a common thread for those of us who loved both of them:
The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect
So hard to earn, so easily burned
In the fullness of time
A garden to nurture and protect
It’s a measure of a life
The treasure of a life
Is a measure of love and respect
The way that you live, the gifts that you give
Clay was a beloved professor at Harvard Business School. Neil was nicknamed “The Professor.” Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl once reminisced, “He was called ‘The Professor’ for a reason: We all learned from him.”
We lost two fine professors too soon in January, but they left us much to appreciate and from which to learn.
Credits
As I performed research for this post, I confirmed that, as I suspected, I am not the first to draw a parallel between these two men. Christopher Skinner, CEO of SpiderOak, wrote a blog post on January 31 of this year that I encourage you to read. I hope that he writes more, and I would enjoy speaking with him one day. I particularly like his closing line: “In summary, their independence and creativity keep me inspired to push on. Any voice that’s honest and willing to speak truth to power needs to be remembered.”
Neil Peart and Clayton Christensen by Christopher Skinner
Clayton Christensen: The Survivor (Forbes Magazine and David Whelan)
Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart
Rush: Behind the Lighted Stage. Directed and produced by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn
