Competing Against LuckBook Title · Author · YYYYBook Title · Author · YYYY · Clayton Christensen · 2016
Introduction and key insights.Introduction and key This is one of the best books on ‘Jobs Theory’. Many of the other books on this topic get bogged down in the messy reality of implementation. I’m absolutely sure, there’s some merit in ‘Jobs To Be Done’ theory. Arguing over semantics and exactly how to implement misses the point. Instead, get out there and understand what your customers are hiring you for.Introduction and key insights.
Key Highlights
The Theory of Jobs to Be Done transforms innovation by clarifying that customers don't simply buy products, they "hire" them to make specific progress in their lives. Rather than focusing on features or customer demographics, Jobs Theory emphasises understanding the deeper causal reasons behind customer choices.
A "job" represents progress that customers seek in particular circumstances. A job can be functional, emotional, or social . A fast-food chain failed to boost sales by iterating on milkshakes, once they realised customers ‘hired’ milkshakes to make boring morning commutes more bearable or to bond with children in the afternoon, they could innovate successfully again.
Jobs Theory fills a critical gap left by Christensen's earlier Disruptive Innovation theory, providing a structured approach for proactive innovation rather than reactive response. It shifts innovation away from being reliant on luck, by uncovering why customers choose certain solutions.
Identifying jobs involves deep customer discovery work, going well beyond their preferences. Companies must investigate the struggles customers face, understanding both the forces driving them toward new solutions and the anxiety, habits, or uncertainty that hold them back. Non-consumption situations (where no existing solution is adequate) often shelter the biggest opportunities.
A University recognised distinct jobs amongst two different types of students (traditional students vs adult learners) which enabled them to innovate and target them effectively.
Signals that indicate job opportunities:
- Personal frustrations: Sheila Marcelo founded Care.com after struggling with childcare herself.
- Workarounds: ING Direct identified customer frustration with traditional bank fees.
- Unusual product uses: Arm & Hammer baking soda expanded successfully into de-odorising after observing customer behaviour.
- Overlooked emotional and social dimensions: Procter & Gamble initially struggled selling diapers in China until recognising the deeper job of helping parents sleep better and strengthening family bonds.
After clearly identifying a job, companies must craft solutions that address the main job and related jobs through tailored customer experiences. Defining a detailed "job spec" is essential. Include the desired progress/outcomes, the acceptable trade-offs, the key obstacles, and the competitive alternatives including non-consumption. Successful products and services remove barriers and allow customers to confidently achieve their intended progress. When consistently delivered, such solutions can build "purpose brands" synonymous with job resolution, commanding premium prices and loyalty.
Sustaining competitive advantage requires organising around customer jobs rather than internal efficiencies. For example, the Mayo Clinic assigns "process owners" to coordinate patients' care, removing complexity and anxiety. Toyota's advantage arises not from proprietary manufacturing techniques, which it openly shares, but from deeply integrated processes and organizational culture that competitors struggle to replicate. Companies must align metrics and processes explicitly with customer job progress.
As organisations grow, they often lose sight of customer jobs, falling into common pitfalls:
- Active vs. Passive Data Fallacy: Over-reliance on easily measured metrics, neglecting nuanced customer insights.
- Surface Growth: Diluting focus by selling more products to existing customers without understanding deeper progress sought.
- Conforming Data: Interpreting data selectively to reinforce existing biases.
Avoiding these traps is crucial to remaining focused and competitive.
Unlike vague mission statements, explicitly defined jobs provide practical guidance for daily decision-making, enabling autonomous yet aligned innovation across organisations. It’s motivating to understand the impact you have on customer lives. This clarity simplifies resource allocation, strategic decisions, and performance measurement.
Jobs Theory also applies broadly to education, healthcare, and social challenges. Healthcare systems often emphasise treatment instead of promoting long-term health. Jobs Theory systematically uncovers the genuine motivations behind behaviours and choices.
Jobs Theory makes innovation more predictable and systematic. By focusing explicitly on the progress customers seek, companies can discover hidden opportunities, reshape competition, and create sustainable competitive advantages. It transforms innovation from hopeful guesswork into a reliable method for consistently delivering meaningful value in customers' lives
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Towards a System of Systems Concepts
Russell Ackoff. 1971. (View Paper → )
The concepts and terms commonly used to talk about systems have not themselves been organised into a system. An attempt to do so is made here. Systems and the most important types of systems are defined so that differences and similarities are made explicit. Particular attention is given to the type of system that is of most interest to management scientists: organisations. The relationship between a system and its parts is considered, and a proposition is put forward that all systems are either variety-increasing or variety-decreasing relative to the behaviour of their parts.
This paper provides insights into systems thinking, clarifies systems terminology, and offers a framework for understanding and analysing complex systems, particularly in organisations. The insights have implications for optimising system performance and problem-solving.
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Book Highlights
At the time I’m writing this, the Uber behavioural statement might sound something like this: When people want to get something from Point A to Point B, and they have a device with connectivity and live in a metro area in most countries, they will use an Uber (as measured by rides). Matt Wallaert · Start at the End
The product leaders have to realise that while team objectives are critically important, they are not the only things that the product team is working on. Every team has some level of ongoing “keep‐the‐lights‐on” activities. This includes such things as fixing critical bugs, handling customer situations, and so forth. Normally, these team objectives are created or updated every quarter. That gives teams enough time to make real progress, yet not too much time that the business can't adjust to changes. There may be occasional situations where team objectives need to change during the quarter, but these should be the exception rather than the rule. Marty Cagan & Chris Jones· Empowered
What happens when we have many devices serving one person? We run up against limits in data access and bandwidth that may lead us, through necessity, into the fourth wave, an era of Distributed Computing. Amber Case · Calm Technology
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Quotes & Tweets
How to become expert at thing:
- Iteratively take on concrete projects and accomplish them depth wise, learning “on demand” (ie don’t learn bottom up breadth wise)
- Teach/summarise everything you learn in your own words
- Only compare yourself to younger you, never to others
Andrej Karpathy
You can drive great people away by making the speed of decision making slow. Why would great people stay in an organization where they can’t get things done? Jeff Bezos