I love the “jobs to be done” approach. It implicitly highlights the tasks we’re not doing! And it also functions as a kind of internal branding so that everyone can align themselves around who we are, who we serve and why they buy from us.
Definitely not better. Maybe worse. There’s a deep-seated belief among founders (assisted in its intractability by VCs) that you can’t plan too far ahead. The phrase “finding product market fit” is a kind of anti-strategic, get-out-of-jail-free card.
And so, establishing the “jobs to do” is especially hard, because all detours are get justified by the quest to find that elusive “fit”.
That’s what makes the “jobs to be done” approach so subversive. It demands decision making. Even more, it arises out of a commitment to determining who the perfect customer is (if there is one)—the smallest possible target—and an understanding that that customer and solving their problem is the origin of any job to be done.
That couldn’t be more different from the idea of casting around for product market fit, which allows for any market and any method of fitting.
I love the “jobs to be done” approach. It implicitly highlights the tasks we’re not doing! And it also functions as a kind of internal branding so that everyone can align themselves around who we are, who we serve and why they buy from us.
It's strong stuff - and executives who don't use it can easily get lost in the noise of everyday problem-solving.
I rarely find C-suites who are strongly aligned in the way you describe. But maybe it's better in the startup world, @amie?
Definitely not better. Maybe worse. There’s a deep-seated belief among founders (assisted in its intractability by VCs) that you can’t plan too far ahead. The phrase “finding product market fit” is a kind of anti-strategic, get-out-of-jail-free card.
And so, establishing the “jobs to do” is especially hard, because all detours are get justified by the quest to find that elusive “fit”.
That’s what makes the “jobs to be done” approach so subversive. It demands decision making. Even more, it arises out of a commitment to determining who the perfect customer is (if there is one)—the smallest possible target—and an understanding that that customer and solving their problem is the origin of any job to be done.
That couldn’t be more different from the idea of casting around for product market fit, which allows for any market and any method of fitting.
Wow - what a rich area for exploration! Tx for sharing.