“It is easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time,” a visiting Harvard professor told a group of over 1,400 young New Zealanders last night at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Pah Road, Auckland Chapel.
- Professor Clayton M. Christensen in Auckland, New Zealand, 3 November 2013.
- Professor Christensen 3 November 2013, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Professor Christensen is a world-renowned author of nine books and is Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. He is one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth.
In a 2011 poll of thousands of executives, consultants and business school professors, Professor Christensen was named as the most influential business thinker in the world.
“When I was a young man, I made the following five decisions,” Professor Christensen told the congregation of young adults. “I decided to get my education. I determined to be a missionary. I put the Kingdom of God and his service first. I decided to keep the commandments 100% of the time. I set out to learn for myself that the Book of Mormon is true.”
As a young man playing centre on the Oxford University basketball team, he had to make the choice if he would play in the championship game on a Sunday. “I committed as a young man to never play sports on Sunday,” he said.
“After wrestling with the decision to let my coach and team down, I knew I had to stay true to my commitment. I am grateful to this day that I kept this promise to the Lord.”
“I believe that God is our Father. He created us. He is powerful because he knows everything. Therefore everything I learn that is true makes me more like my Father.”
Elder Kevin W. Pearson and Elder O. Vincent Haleck, members of the Pacific Area Presidency of the Church, accompanied Professor Clayton M. Christensen at the meeting. Area Seventy, Elder Paul R. Coward, also attended. Mt Roskill Stake President, Anthony Wilson, conducted the meeting.
Elder Pearson, who also spoke last night, told the young people, “Life delivers strong challenges and temptations. Through the atonement of Christ we are able to feel the strength and power of God to overcome these temptations. God will help you because He loves you.”