I use the term devastate because, though no fault of Professor Christensen’s, disruptive innovation took a turn for the worse in tech. Silicon Valley failed to marry disruption with a concept of corporate responsibility, and growth at all costs became its motto. The more measured approach that Professor Christensen taught was ignored.

Thus, in tech, the idea was more like “destructive innovation,” which to me was distilled in Facebook’s famous sign that was once plastered all over the walls at its headquarters: “Move Fast and Break Things.”

I have always wondered why the company chose those words. I have no problem with “move fast,” which Professor Christensen would not have quibbled with, since being nimble was a core competency that he touted. It was the word “break” that stuck in my head like a bad migraine.

Why use a violent and thoughtless word like “break” and not one more hopeful, like “change” or “transform” or “invent”? And, if “break” was to be the choice, what would happen after the breaking? Would there be fixing? Could there be any fixing after the breaking? “Break” sounded painful. And, back to today’s subject, Professor Christensen never talked about that.

In fact, Professor Christensen’s approach was quite the opposite. He learned in 2010 that he had lymphoma, then he had a stroke. Within two years, he published the book that I like best, titled “How Will You Measure Your Life?” It is at turns spiritual and sometimes self-helpy, taking Professor Christensen’s management thinking and applying it to how to live a life.

This book should be newly relevant, as tech is casting about for its next act; we’ve been talking about the negative impact of tech’s disruptive innovations for a while now. Techies measure everything — and so Professor Christensen’s bracing prescriptions are perhaps perfect as the tech industry seeks redemption.

For example, he wrote:

“It’s easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time.”