Do you want to understand what causes people to purchase, adopt and re-purchase products and services? Do you want to increase the success rate of your innovation efforts? This presentation gives you an introduction to Jobs-To-Be-Done—a theory of the market that seeks to answer these questions and more.
2. 2
The Challenge of Innovating Successfully
The Core Theory of Jobs-To-Be-Done
Case Study: Transportation Solution
Innovating with Jobs-To-Be-Done
JTBD: An Evolving Theory
1
2
3
4
5
7. Innovation Processes in Practice
Research
Innovate
Deliver
Innovate
Deliver
Learn
Learn in the Market | Discover Upfront
What do customers demand?
How do they assess value?
Who is the competition?
7
Theoretical
(algorithmic)
Empirical
(trial & error)
8. Innovation: We Do It the Hard Way!
Lean startup and agile are not solutions. They are patches.
We can do better.
8
Process Mix
Theoretical
Process
Empirical
Process
Success Rate
9. We need a theory of the market to increase innovation success rates.
“What causes a customer to purchase and use
a particular product or service?” 2
— Clayton Christensen
“A theory is a statement of causality.” 3
— Clayton Christensen
9
10. Microeconomics doesn’t answer Christensen’s question.
Classical market research provides only
a collection of frameworks and tools.
Quantity
Price
Supply
Demand
10
11. However, a solution has been evolving since early 2000’s:
The Theory of Jobs-To-Be-Done
“The [Jobs-To-Be-Done] lens allows you to look at the same things
everyone else is looking at—but enables you to see differently.” 4
— Clayton Christensen
11
12. 12
The Core Theory of Jobs-To-Be-Done
The Causality Principle—Circumstances, Progress and Job
The Process Principle
The Job Hierarchy
13. “Customers purchase and use … products and services to
satisfy jobs that arise in their lives.” 5
— Clayton Christensen
“People don't want quarter-inch drills.
They want quarter-inch holes.” 6
— Theodore Levitt
The Causality Principle
13
14. 14
The Causality Principle is the foundation of Jobs-To-Be-Done.
To understand it, we need to understand what a job is.
In the next slides, I will build up to the definition of a job and beyond.
Theory
I will also use my typical weekday morning to
illustrate the theory.
It’s about 7AM and
I just finished breakfast.
An additional illustration of the theory,
using a game of chess, is in the appendix.
Illustration
16. 16
Circumstances
It’s about 7AM.
----------------------------------------------
I’m at home in a suburban area.
I’m expected to be in the office around 9AM.
The office is about 20 miles away.
I’m in my pajamas.
----------------------------------------------
My daughter is at home.
Her school starts at 8:30am.
The school doesn’t provide bus transportation but it is located
close to my normal route to work.
My daughter is in her pajamas, as well.
Her hair is unkempt because, unlike me, she has plenty of it.
----------------------------------------------
I love my work.
I care about the education of my daughter.
----------------------------------------------
I own clothes that can be worn at work.
I own a personal car that is ready to go.
I own a navigation system with real-time traffic information.
17. People always desire to make progress —
to change their circumstances for the better.
The Progress Principle
We define ‘progress’ as a change for the better in
one or more elements of a person’s circumstances.
17
Definition: Progress
18. 18
My Desired Progress
Take my daughter to school.
Minimize the likelihood of getting to my daughter’s school
before 8:15am or after 8:30am.
Get to the office.
Minimize the likelihood of getting to the office after 9:15am.
Minimize the time to get to the office.
The pictures illustrate the desired changes in circumstances.
19. “We define a 'job' as the progress that a person is trying to make
in a particular circumstance.” 2
— Clayton Christensen
Definition: Job
“Is trying to make” should be understood as “desires” and not as “is struggling to make”. 5
19
20. 20
My Job
(A Job-To-Be-Done)
All my desired progress in my circumstances.
The job defies a concise and meaningful label*. Nonetheless,
it is as real as it gets. Many parents at my daughter’s school
have the same job-to-be-done.
* We could label it “commute in the morning” as long as we
agree that this is just a label—i.e. we don’t ascribe any
meaning to it.
21. “A job is always a process to make progress,
it’s rarely a discrete event.” 8
— Clayton Christensen
The Process Principle
A step in the process of making progress is a job-like construct.
Observation: The Pseudo-Job
21
22. 22
My First Step
(A Step in the Process of Making Progress — A Pseudo-Job)
Desired change in circumstances:
Change my clothing from pajamas to work attire.
Desired progress:
Change into work attire.
Minimize the likelihood of not having clean work attire that includes
matching garments suitable for the weather.
The pseudo-job: some desired progress in my circumstances.
Let’s label it “change clothing.” *
* This obviously incomplete name makes it clear that it is just a label.
23. 23
The Process of Making Progress
Step
Change
Clothing
Validate
Child Is Prepared*
DesiredChange
inCircumstances
Take Child to
School
Get from
School to Office
Productsand
ServicesUsed
Business Casual
Garments
None Personal Car
Navigation System
* Getting prepared is the child’s job.
25. …and you were considering these prototypes for people like me*.
* These are the cars that I evaluated for my last purchase. I bought one of them.
** Consumer Reports, Inc., https://www.consumerreports.org/cars, accessed October 2018.
Price: $$
Price: $$$$
Gasoline-only powertrain
5 seats
MPG: 32/42
Predicted reliability: 3/5**
Type
A
Gasoline + electric powertrain
25 miles electric-only range
4 seats
MPG: 54, MPGe: 133
Predicted reliability: 5/5
Type
A
Gasoline + electric powertrain
53 miles electric-only range
5 seats
MPG: 42, MPGe: 106
Predicted reliability: 2/5
Type
B
Electric-only powertrain
238 miles range
5 seats
MPGe: 119
Predicted reliability: 4/5
Type
B
25
26. Demographics
Middle-aged man
2 children
Lives in the suburbs
Psychographics
Cares for the environment.
Perceives Type A cars as having better quality.
Behaviors
Previously owned both Type A and B cars.
Most recent purchase was a Type A car.
Commutes to work.
Which prototype would you take to market based on these insights?
Classical Marketing
Insights
(sample)
26
27. And, which prototype would you take to market based on these insights?
Jobs-To-Be-Done
Insights
(Sample)
Circumstances
I commute less than 25 miles to work.
I can charge a car at work.
I have 2 children
I live in the suburbs
My previous transportation solution
was having age-related defects.
Progress / Desired Outcomes
Transport myself to work.
Set an example of green living.
Minimize the time spent dealing with malfunctions.
Minimize the cost of maintenance.
27
28. 28
The next slide is the answer to this case study.
Are you ready to proceed?
29. How did you do? Which insights helped?
Price: $$
Price: $$$$
Gasoline-only powertrain
5 seats
MPG: 32/42
Predicted reliability: 3/5
Honda
Civic
Gasoline + electric powertrain
25 miles electric-only range
4 seats
MPG: 54, MPGe: 133
Predicted reliability: 5/5
Toyota
Prius
Prime
Gasoline + electric powertrain
53 miles electric-only range
5 seats
MPG: 42, MPGe: 106
Predicted reliability: 2/5
Chevy
Volt
Electric-only powertrain
238 miles range
5 seats
MPGe: 119
Predicted reliability: 4/5
Chevy
Bolt
29
31. The Job-To-Be-Done
A Highly Predictive Input
31
Circumstances
I commute less than 25 miles to work.
I can charge a car at work.
I have 2 children
[…]
Progress / Desired Outcomes
Transport myself to work.
Set an example of green living.
[…]
Describes what causes people
to pull solutions into their lives.
Demographics, psychographics and behaviors
only correlate with a person’s propensity to use
a particular solution.
32. The Job-To-Be-Done
A Solution
A Frame of Reference for Objective Evaluation
32
Progress
Transport myself to work.
Set an example of green living.
[…]
Defines how people measure progress
independent of a solution.
Psychographics and behaviors are not
necessarily solution independent.
33. 33
A Foundation for Successful Innovation
Unbiased, Algorithmic
Problem-Solving
Highly
Predictive
Input
Successful
Innovation
“With a theory to predict what will cause what to happen,
breakthrough innovations do not require getting lucky.” 4
― Clayton Christensen
34. JTBD
“Without good customer metrics, such as [the desired progress] in the job-to-be-done,
companies often prioritize their roadmap based on an imprecise projection of business
impact, the charisma of people lobbying for the features they like, and the ‘HiPPO’
(the Highest Paid Person's Opinion).” 9
― thrv
Before After
Input: Market Insights Correlates Causes
Decision
Making
Idea Evaluation Subjective Objective
Majority
Coalesces around the
most persuasive
Emerges naturally
Biased by HiPPO Yes No
Output: Successful Innovation Unlikely Likely
The Basis of the Innovation Process Empirical Theoretical
34
35. “… while the success rates of traditional innovation processes average
17 percent, the success rate of [the Jobs-To-Be-Done method]
Outcome-Driven Innovation is 86 percent.” 10
— Anthony Ulwick
35
38. An Enabler of Disruptive Innovation
Customer Demand
Job-To-Be-Done
/
Competitive Supply
Best Value Proposition
38
1 / A 2 / B
3 / XXX 4 / C
Blue
Ocean
Segment based on the job.
The Market
Identify disruptive innovation opportunities by looking at the market through
the lens of the job-to-be-done.
40. Field: Market Research
Ulwick
(early 1990’s)
2016 2016 2016
(self-published
e-book)
Bettencourt
2010
Christensen
(early 2000’s)
2016
2005
Wunker Klement
Moesta
(mid-late 1990’s)
Research
Method
&
School of
Thought
Outcome Driven
Innovation (ODI)
Switch
Internally Consistent?
Empirically Validated?
Generalizable?
Theory: Jobs-To-Be-Done
?
n/a
n/a
WARNING: Terminology is not standardized across these schools of thought.
Berstell
(late 1980’s)
Customer Case Research
40
41. “It turns out, by the way, Jobs-To-Be-Done is one of the most
difficult things to understand that I've ever come across. It's
insanely hard to understand. If you can understand it, and
internalize it, and use it well, it's an amazing tool. An amazing
tool ... but it's hard to understand.” 11
— Paul Adams, VP of Product at Intercom
41
Are you up for the challenge?
43. Let’s use a chess game to illustrate
the Theory of Jobs-To-Be-Done.
Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov 12
It’s white’s turn.
We’ll look at the game from its perspective.
43
44. Customers purchase and use solutions to
satisfy jobs that arise in their lives.
In the world of chess…
Players plan and use legal moves to
satisfy jobs that arise in their game.
The Causality Principle
44
45. Circumstances
White Black
King B1
check: no; mate: no
King A7
check: no; mate: no
Knight A5 Bishop A8
Pawn D5 Rook D8
Queen F4 Rook H8
[…] […]
The existing conditions or state of affairs
surrounding and affecting the player in the game.
45
A B C D E F G H
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
46. A change for the better in
one or more elements of
the player’s circumstances.
The desired change is illustrated on the board.
Desired Progress
46
47. All desired progress in circumstances.
Place black in checkmate.
The Job
(A Job-To-Be-Done)
47
48. The First Step
(A Step in the Process of Making Progress)
Options for changing the circumstances:
1. Place king in check … and risk losing rook
2. Capture black’s pawn … and sacrifice rook
3. […]
Best option = Desired progress: #2.
1
2
48
49. Some desired progress in circumstances.
Capture black’s pawn.
The First Step
(A Pseudo-Job)
49
50. The Process of Making Progress
Step 1 Step 2
Changes in circumstances:
White Rook D1 — D4
Black Pawn D4: captured
Black Pawn C5 — D4
White Rook D4: captured
White Rook E1 — E7
Black King A7
check: yes; mate: no
Black King A7 — B6
check: no; mate: no
50
52. 1. Peter F. Drucker, The Practice of Management (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 1993), p. 37.
2. Clayton Christensen, et al., Competing Against Luck (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2016), p. 27.
3. Clayton Christensen, Clayton Christensen: The Theory of Jobs To Be Done, interview by Dina
Gerdeman, HBS Working Knowledge, October 3, 2016, https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/clay-christensen-
the-theory-of-jobs-to-be-done
4. Clayton Christensen, et al., Competing Against Luck (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2016), p. 90.
5. Clayton Christensen, et al., Competing Against Luck (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2016), p. 43.
6. Theodore Levitt, The Marketing Imagination (New Yourk, NY: The Free Press, 1986), p. 128.
7. Dictionary.com LLC, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/circumstances, accessed October 2018.
8. Clayton Christensen, et al., Competing Against Luck (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2016), p. 28.
9. thrv LLC, “Product Roadmap Prioritization,” https://www.thrv.com/how-to-do-jtbd/product-roadmap-
prioritization/, accessed October 2018.
52
53. 10. Anthony W. Ulwick, Jobs To Be Done: Theory to Practice (IDEA BITE PRESS, 2016), p. 21.
11. Clearleft, “The End of Navel Gazing: Paul Adams, UX London 2018,” published June 15, 2018,
https://vimeo.com/275265188, accessed October 2018, 32:35–32:51
12. Chessgames Services LLC, “Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov,” http://www.chessgames.com/perl/
chessgame?gid=1011478, accessed September 2018.
53
