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The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty Hardcover – Illustrated, January 15, 2019
| Clayton M Christensen (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Efosa Ojomo (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Karen Dillon (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Clayton M. Christensen, the author of such business classics as The Innovator’s Dilemma and the New York Times bestseller How Will You Measure Your Life, and co-authors Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon reveal why so many investments in economic development fail to generate sustainable prosperity, and offers a groundbreaking solution for true and lasting change.
Global poverty is one of the world’s most vexing problems. For decades, we’ve assumed smart, well-intentioned people will eventually be able to change the economic trajectory of poor countries. From education to healthcare, infrastructure to eradicating corruption, too many solutions rely on trial and error. Essentially, the plan is often to identify areas that need help, flood them with resources, and hope to see change over time.
But hope is not an effective strategy.
Clayton M. Christensen and his co-authors reveal a paradox at the heart of our approach to solving poverty. While noble, our current solutions are not producing consistent results, and in some cases, have exacerbated the problem. At least twenty countries that have received billions of dollars’ worth of aid are poorer now.
Applying the rigorous and theory-driven analysis he is known for, Christensen suggests a better way. The right kind of innovation not only builds companies—but also builds countries. The Prosperity Paradox identifies the limits of common economic development models, which tend to be top-down efforts, and offers a new framework for economic growth based on entrepreneurship and market-creating innovation. Christensen, Ojomo, and Dillon use successful examples from America’s own economic development, including Ford, Eastman Kodak, and Singer Sewing Machines, and shows how similar models have worked in other regions such as Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Rwanda, India, Argentina, and Mexico.
The ideas in this book will help companies desperate for real, long-term growth see actual, sustainable progress where they’ve failed before. But The Prosperity Paradox is more than a business book; it is a call to action for anyone who wants a fresh take for making the world a better and more prosperous place.
- Print length368 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Business
- Publication dateJanuary 15, 2019
- Dimensions6 x 1.17 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100062851829
- ISBN-13978-0062851826
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"The Prosperity Paradox by Clayton Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Karen Dillon is a timely must-read onthe mindset change that turns poverty into opportunity and enables the creation of sustainableprosperity. As World Bank Treasurer, I saw first-hand how the innovative approaches described in thiscompelling easy to read primer empowers development practitioners and businesses to seek out theseprofitable opportunities."- Arunma Oteh, World Bank Treasurer (30th September 2015 to 30th November 2018)
"The Prosperity Paradox has the power to transform our thinking about philanthropy and social good. Aswe continue to grapple with how to lift people out of poverty, Clay Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and KarenDillon provide a new and innovative solution for millions of people around the world. It's a must-readfor anyone with an interest in global affairs who wants to create a truly thriving society."- Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global
"The rise of any economy, local or global, must be fueled by innovative entrepreneurs willing to buildnew markets. With The Prosperity Paradox, Christensen, Ojomo, and Dillon offer powerful insight andguidance on how we can channel our efforts to create jobs, generate growth, and impact individual livesall over the world."- Steve Case, Chairman & CEO of Revolution and co-founder of AOL
"The Prosperity Paradox is a manifesto and a call to action for those who recognize that our survivaldepends on creating opportunity. This book will help innovators be more compassionate. And thecompassionate be more innovative."- Tom Fletcher, CMG, former UK Ambassador and author of The Naked Diplomat
From the Back Cover
Resolving the Paradox
Starving children on street corners. Slums without adequate clean water and sanitation. Hopeless prospects for employment amid a growing youth population. Most of us are moved by the painful signs of poverty we see in poor countries all around the world. Though some progress has been made, upwards of 750 million people still live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 a day. We all want to help. But what might seem to be the most obvious solution to these problems—directly assisting poor countries by investing to fix these visible signs of poverty—has not been as successful as many of us would like. You only have to look at the billions of dollars that have been channeled to these problems over the years with relatively slow progress to conclude that something is not quite right. With these efforts, we may be easing poverty for some—but we’re not moving the needle enough long term.
What if we considered this problem through a different lens? What if, instead of trying to fix the visible signs of poverty, we focused instead on creating lasting prosperity? This may require a counterintuitive approach to economic development, but one that will cause you to see opportunities where you might least expect them. We wrote this book to celebrate the role innovation can play, even in the most difficult of circumstances, in creating and sustaining prosperity even in some of the most desperate parts of the world. By supporting and investing in market-creating innovations, we inadvertently engage in nation building.
About the Author
EFOSA OJOMO works side-by-side with Christensen as a senior fellow at Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, where he leads the organization's Global Prosperity Practice. His work has been published in the Harvard Business Review, the Guardian, Quartz,CNBC Africa, and the Emerging Markets Business Review. He graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2015.
KAREN DILLON is the former editor of the Harvard Business Review and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller How Will You Measure Your Life? and Competing Against Luck. A graduate of Cornell University and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, she is also the Editorial Director of Banyan Global Family Business Advisors. She was named by Ashoka as one of the world's most influential and inspiring women.
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Product details
- Publisher : Harper Business; Illustrated edition (January 15, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062851829
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062851826
- Item Weight : 1.14 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.17 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #438,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #196 in Library Management
- #368 in Development & Growth Economics (Books)
- #399 in Poverty
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In addition to his most recent book, Competing Against Luck, he is the author of nine books, including several New York Times bestsellers — The Innovator's Dilemma, The Innovator's Solution, Disrupting Class, and and most recently How Will You Measure Your Life?. Christensen is the co-founder of Innosight, a growth-strategy consultancy; Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm; and the Christensen Institute, a non-profit think tank. In 2011 and 2013, he was named the world’s most influential business thinker by Thinkers50.

Focusing his work at the intersection of innovation and economic development, Efosa Ojomo is on a mission to use business and disruptive innovation to create prosperity in frontier and emerging markets. A research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, Ojomo works alongside colleague and mentor Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen in their shared goal to discover, develop and disseminate robust and accessible theory in the areas of disruptive innovation and general management. Ojomo’s body of work will ultimately help entrepreneurs, policy makers and development practitioners spur prosperity in their regions.
Specifically, Ojomo’s research examines how emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, and Asia can engender prosperity for their citizens by focusing on investments in market creating innovations, such as M-PESA, the mobile money transfer platform in Kenya. These innovations, which transform complicated and/or expensive products into simpler and less expensive products for populations who historically could not access them, are unique for their ability to spur long-term economic growth and create employment, a necessary condition for economic development.
Ojomo, who came to the U.S. from Nigeria to attend college, worked as an engineer and in business development for National Instruments for eight years following graduation. He soon realized his purpose was much larger than himself. Inspired by a young Ethiopian girl’s story of debilitating poverty, Ojomo started the nonprofit Poverty Stops Here. Since then, he has rallied hundreds of people around his vision and touched the lives of hundreds more. But his ambition is to transform lives; his work at the Christensen Institute is getting him closer to that goal.
Ojomo graduated with honors from Vanderbilt University with a degree in computer engineering. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Customer reviews
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2019
Top reviews from the United States
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The book is effective in spelling out support for its thesis. Starting with the idea that every nation has the potential for extraordinary growth - what the authors call "nonconsumption" - the book goes on to detail examples where nations (e.g. Singapore, South Korea, Japan) and innovative organizations (e.g. Aravind in India, Celtel throughout much of Africa, etc.) have taken advantage of this potential. What the authors do so well, however, is not just to list out examples of innovative companies and policies, but rather to devise a complete framework based on those successful examples listed that can in turn be replicated in other cases. For instance, the authors argue that infrastructure development should be pulled in alongside to support a market-developing innovation rather than pushed down via institutions in the absence of that innovation, go on to list positive examples, and then analyze exactly why pulling worked better than pushing. In developing their framework for how nations can aim towards prosperity, the authors are doing policymakers a great favor.
Another aspect which I appreciated about the Prosperity Paradox was the intuition and empathy with which the researchers approached development. Take the chapter on corruption, for instance. The authors argue that corruption can often times accompany development simply because, in some situations, it can meet people's needs and their desire for progress better than legal means. If policymakers can focus on offering their populations alternatives that are more attractive than corruption (e.g. jobs that pay sufficient money, upward mobility, etc.), then those states would have a chance to tackle corruption long-term. This stands in stark contrast to common belief that simply investing in strict anti-corruption initiatives or electing governments that promise to end corruption will in fact end that corruption.
Most importantly, though, the authors profess hope for nations in poverty. As they state in the last chapter, the authors believe that the Prosperity Paradox can become a Prosperity Process that is sustained by a continuous commitment to innovation. The examples in the appendix only provide more hope of a brighter future, as we can witness entrepreneurs all around the globe working with limited resources in different, challenging environments to solve the real problems faced by people daily.
On this basis, it's not hard to see why The Prosperity Paradox is currently an Amazon best seller.
I found the history lessons in American economic development (Singer, Eastman, Ford, Giannini) fascinating, as well as parallel examples in Asia. The authors research is profound and compelling, yet very easy and pleasurable to consume over a few sittings.
While this book keeps its focus on global opportunities, I’m inspired by how the authors thinking could be applied locally, to struggling communities within my country. (U.S.) This is hinted at in the Appendix - Disney in Detroit. The notion of fostering pull rather than push is very powerful, as is the focus on non-consumption.
Whether you are new to the theories of Disruptive Innovation and Jobs to be Done, or well-acquainted with them, this is an important book that should be at the top of your 2019 reading list.
Top reviews from other countries
If you've known me for awhile, you know that I have a heart for other cultures and am fascinated by new technology, startups, emerging markets, and developing nations. The sheer potential for market and value-creation through entrepreneurship and innovation is incredible due to the talent in these countries and so much untapped opportunity. It's part of why I joined CEO & Founder Mark Sears at CloudFactory 2.5 years ago and moved to the UK. CloudFactory's mission is to help 1M people become leaders worth following by providing digital work in developing nations (like Nepal and Kenya). I've seen so much talent from the teams and people I've interacted with in Nepal and Kenya. Genuinely incredible people. Like other impact-focused companies working in developing nations, we believe talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. We're using technology to bring opportunity to really talented people. I digress. Back to the book.
This genuinely is an incredible book that I strongly encourage you to read if you have an interest in how nations develop, charity in developing nations, how innovation can be used to increase prosperity and decrease poverty, how innovation can combat corruption, etc. There are so many reasons to read this book. I've tried to give a sampler appetiser of the full course meal of innovation wisdom and insight that's available to anyone that chooses to read 'The Prosperity Paradox.' Enjoy!
<a href=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-strategy-fight-poverty-elijah-elkins/>Click Here for Full Review!</a>
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2020
If you've known me for awhile, you know that I have a heart for other cultures and am fascinated by new technology, startups, emerging markets, and developing nations. The sheer potential for market and value-creation through entrepreneurship and innovation is incredible due to the talent in these countries and so much untapped opportunity. It's part of why I joined CEO & Founder Mark Sears at CloudFactory 2.5 years ago and moved to the UK. CloudFactory's mission is to help 1M people become leaders worth following by providing digital work in developing nations (like Nepal and Kenya). I've seen so much talent from the teams and people I've interacted with in Nepal and Kenya. Genuinely incredible people. Like other impact-focused companies working in developing nations, we believe talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. We're using technology to bring opportunity to really talented people. I digress. Back to the book.
This genuinely is an incredible book that I strongly encourage you to read if you have an interest in how nations develop, charity in developing nations, how innovation can be used to increase prosperity and decrease poverty, how innovation can combat corruption, etc. There are so many reasons to read this book. I've tried to give a sampler appetiser of the full course meal of innovation wisdom and insight that's available to anyone that chooses to read 'The Prosperity Paradox.' Enjoy!
<a href=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-strategy-fight-poverty-elijah-elkins/>Click Here for Full Review!</a>
The book starts with a counter intuitive hypothesis that the direct investment on widely acclaimed poverty alleviation projects like providing free health care, clean drinking water, infrastructure and schools has not delivered results. In fact, data suggests that scores of countries like Burundi, Gambia and Malawi are worse off. On the other hand, countries like South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan are prosperous nations today, despite having been flattened by bombs. The difference, the authors argue, is Market Creating Innovations, that were targeted at non consumers. Our second salesman approach!
Prof Christensen introduced the concept of ‘Disruptive Innovation’ in his path breaking book ‘The Innovators Dilemma’ in 1997; perhaps the most important framework on innovation till date. He clearly defines Innovation and explains that most big corporations focus on ‘Sustaining Innovation' which is about moving up the functionality curve, premiumisation and higher margins, and ceding low end products to smaller players. Disruptive Innovation is about creating a new dimension of functionality, and perhaps even sacrificing existing ones to levels that are ‘good enough’. The Personal Computer, the Walkman etc are products that opened huge markets to non-consumers, with lower prices and new features like smaller size and mobility.
In this book, the authors exploit the potential of Market Creating Innovations (Disruptive in nature) that create a Pull from the non-consumers, that are profitable, and market driven and hence sustainable. To serve new markets and new consumers, it is argued that we need new business models (low margins with high volumes and high penetration for example). These new markets in turn would create new jobs, and over a period of time bring in multiplier effects across adjacencies and create vibrant value chains. Social transformation follows, since people begin to find Value in market driven innovations. Institutions and policies would be a pull from citizens, and the government is a cheer leader and catalyst in enacting laws and building new institutions.
Governments in developing countries have no business to run businesses. Led by bureaucrats, they literally run and ruin even gold mines. This book shows us the way to transform the status quo and lead developing countries into prosperity.
The concept of hiring products and services for ‘Jobs to be Done’ to help us be better off in a given situation is at the core of the conceptual framework.
The chapters explain that in developing countries, over a period, the deep-rooted inefficiencies, corruption, and institutional failures shall be automatically eliminated if we adopt this approach. USA today is a great example in its transition from the Nineteenth Century till date. Henry Ford created a mass market for cars (targeting all American citizens who were once poor), and the rest as they say is history.
Case studies from India include Narayana Health and Aravind Eye Hospitals. These great institutions offer valuable processes that can be taken back to developed markets to offer affordable health care globally. (‘Reverse Innovation in Health Care’ by Prof Vijay Govindarajan is a great read on this topic).
Finally, economic prosperity alone cannot ensure happiness. South Korea for example has the highest suicide rates and hospitalization for mental illness, despite its achievements. Quoting Robert Kennedy ‘GDP doesn’t register the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages or the intelligence of our public debate…. GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile’.
Let us remember to preserve core social values and the wisdom of this great nation in this glorious journey. ‘Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavanthu’ meaning ‘Let the entire world be happy’. This would certainly put a smile on Gandhiji’s face.
JAI HIND.
A must read.







