The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty

Many of us are troubled by and want to help eradicate poverty around the globe. The World Bank calculates that more than 750 million people still live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 a day, with little or no access to clean water, sanitation, education, healthcare, and other basic needs. Yet, despite the trillions of dollars that have been channeled to these problems over decades, in many regions there has been little progress—indeed, at least twenty countries, after receiving billions worth of aid, were poorer in 2015 than they were in 1960. “What if we considered this problem through a different lens?” asks renowned Harvard professor and New York Times bestselling author Clayton M. Christensen in The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty, a groundbreaking new book written in collaboration with Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon. “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, but one that will cause you to see opportunities where you might least expect them.”

The Prosperity Paradox offers a paradigm-shattering approach to helping eradicate global poverty. Applying the rigorous, theory-driven analysis that has made Christensen one of the most revered business visionaries, the team argues for flipping the emphasis to innovation and market-based solutions rather than conventional development-based solutions. Looking to actual cases of entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations that fueled sustained economic development in Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Rwanda, India, Argentina, and Mexico, as well as examples from America’s own economic history, they demonstrate the long-term positive effects of this alternative strategy.

Easing poverty is not the same as creating prosperity, the authors point out. Prosperity means access to education, healthcare, safety and security, and good governance. It breeds increasing freedoms—economic, social, and political—and is less dependent on access to one or two singular resources. With this driving distinction,  The Prosperity Paradox has a wide-ranging audience in mind: those in the development industry working to rid the world of poverty; investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs looking to build successful enterprises in emerging markets; policy makers seeking to institute effective policies that spur development in their countries; and not least of all a new generation, living in poverty and a world seemingly devoid of opportunity.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor at Harvard Business School, the author of 12 books, a five-time recipient of the McKinsey Award for Harvard Business Review’s best article, and the cofounder of four companies, including the innovation consulting firm Innosight. He is repeatedly recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the most influential business thinkers in the world.

Efosa Ojomo works side-by-side with Christensen and the 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, CNBCAfrica, and the Emerging Markets Business Review.

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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