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Takeaways from the book: Jobs to be Done
A methodology for replacing luck with a predictable process.
Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a concept that’s been around for some time. I first came across it in Clayton Christen’s book The Innovator’s Dilemma, where he referenced the milkshake example. Little did I know until years later, that JTBD is a part of the Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) methodology built and practiced by Tony Ulwick and his firm Strategyn.
While the book has a salesy tone to it, it is informative in laying down the theory and the overall approach. Here are my top takeaways and a preview of the steps involved in carrying out ODI.
What is special about ODI as a methodology for innovation?
By creating a standard syntax for capturing qualitative findings, ODI allows for a layer of quantitative segmentation
Innovate with high predictability
The reason for the success of ODI is simple: a company can dramatically increase its chances for success at innovation if it knows precisely what metrics customers use to measure success and value when getting a job done.
ODI brings together the best of qual and quant
We employ qualitative research methods to uncover all the reasons a customer may use the offering and then use quantitative research and factor analysis to group together like attributes and discover the core jobs customers are trying to get done.
Knowing if and why segments of customers have different unmet needs is the key to an effective market and product strategy. A new product will fail if it doesn’t address unmet needs in a segment of the market that is large enough to warrant the investment. A value proposition will fail to connect with customers if it does not align with unmet customer needs.
More direct ways to collect data
Customers know perfectly well how they measure success when executing a job and are very capable of communicating those metrics — and those metrics, simply put, are their desired outcomes. A corn farmer, for example, may want to “minimize the time it takes for the corn seeds to germinate” or to “minimize the likelihood that the plants fail to emerge at the same time.”
