The first version of this article referenced desires as “unmet desires” After more work and feedback from model consumers and the community, we’ve opted to remove the “unmet” qualifier. Why? Initially, we worded “Desires” as “Desires”; however, we noticed that model users were getting confused. They were inputting many desirable aspects…

A way to communicate, quantify, validate, and design for a Job to be Done — After countless consumer interviews, years of research, and trying different models, my answer to How should I communicate, quantify, validate, and design for a Job to be Done? is this: The best way to communicate, quantify, validate, and design for a Job to be Done is use data that describe…

How Linkedin Uses Progress to Segment Markets and Product Offerings — After using the free version of LinkedIn for quite a while, I was curious about what the paid version was like. Upon clicking “try premium”, I saw this: Right away I knew this was gonna be good. Why? Because all these options weren’t describing the product, they were describing progress…

Not using. Not buying…and consuming is only part of the story — Even though I use the word “hire” about 15 times in my book When Coffee and Kale Compete, I never explained what it meant, and how it relates to Jobs to be Done theory. Clay’s book, Competing Against Luck, uses hire a whopping 231 times! …

The product does the work, while the consumer enjoys the benefits — The phrase “jobs to be done” carries a lot of meaning with it. The three most important parts are: Job. Just as an employer hires and fires employees to improve itself, consumers hire and fire products to help them achieve progress. …

I was invited to speak at Elevate 2018 in Toronto. I was asked to talk about how I use JTBD to create a growth strategy. I also used my two favorite examples of Jobs theory applied: Weber and DeWalt. Video Deck You can catch the deck here on Slideshare. Or see the keynote presentation below (if it embedded correctly) Want to make progress with learning and applying JTBD theory? Download When Coffee and Kale Compete for free

An overview of a new JTBD white paper — On September 12, the Christensen Institute released a white paper summarizing research around four Jobs teachers are trying to get done. This article is a summary of those Jobs. After readings this summary, I recommend reading the orignal white paper. We all have Jobs to be Done in our lives…

What do we mean by “progress”? How is it different than goals? How does Progress thinking help us? — Key Concepts and Takeaways Progress is the core of Jobs to be Done theory Progress is the process of making changes in a positive direction Understanding dynamics and relationships is what makes progress different from goals Knowing what business are you in, anticipating (predicting) what people will want next, and creating growth-related metrics are…

Common mistakes to avoid and some takeaways to remember — 1. Thinking of it as a framework, method, lens, or methodology Does it make sense to say “we’re using gravity” or “we’re getting started with gravity”? Of course not! Why? Because gravity is a theory. You don’t do theories, you learn them. The point of theory is help you: Understand how things happened the past Make predictions about the future