I have been studying related work to Jobs to be Done theory, who people implement the theory and what are the results. The theory is well known, there are a lot of variations and options to the process and few results to share from the effects of JTBD.
It’s a great theory and the sophisticated capabilities of some people make it possible for the biggest and best. I want to see startups embrace jobs to be done as a means to get answers and results faster than ever before — even in real time as they make changes and pivot their products to meet the needs of customers who have jobs to be done. How can this get done? Software. It starts not nearly as sophisticated as current abilities but it becomes affordable, accessible and easy to use. Maybe not all the answers but 80% in 1 hr. In 2 hrs, a look-a-like CRM that feeds into your CMS for both web and app development.
A summary and point of view of other methods:
The Forces of Progress
The forces of progress are the emotional forces that generate and shape customers’ demand for a product.
Very true but clusters of people will have far more push than pull, making them easier to convert without too much pain. Segmenting people by traits is a clear way to discover how much push, how much pull. Quantify the segments.
They can be used to describe a high-level demand for any solution for the customers’ JTBD or the demand for a specific product.
Events do create demand. But demand will trigger many options based on how you see the world. Your traits and personality pre-select options. We are not just dumb blobs that buy based on what is shown to us.
An event might trigger a far different result, based upon who you are. What is in your deep ways of thinking, your traits, will define what might be a solution to a job to be done.
Push. People won’t change when they are happy with the way things are. Why would they?
Push is a difficult subject. Many brands push all day long, with price, time based offers, etc. Because people can find better, always, people will change if they can be happier, even if the offer is the same or less. Many products over serve their market. I am happy with Verizon but would be more happy if it find a trustworthy alternative at 30% less cost. It can be a tad slower. I might even deal with a few dropped calls like we all did 15 years ago.
External Pushes– Our circle of influence, such as our children might influence our shopping patterns.
An external push is a classic. Of course that will change a job to be done. We find subtle changes can keep a customer loyal. This example Is a good extreme case but many are subtle. I once helped a company that was intimidating introverted minded customers. It was very subtle use of words and imagery. It did not take much for customers to avoid the company which was otherwise a great fit for so many. In many cases it does not take much to see when you’re leading edge customers are dropping off and not converting anymore, while the mass middle might be happy as clams. By segmenting based on traits you can see problems developed early and stop them before the damage is done.
Internal pushes. These pushes ranged from frustration with the homogeneity of a peer group to parents who wanted experiences for their children that would teach life lessons.
Internal pushes or extern a push is a push.How that push develops is often connected to traits that can be quantified and used to determine the real reason why people make decisions. Having software allows you to quantify in real-time and change the environment before real damage is done. Don’t wait for a survey. There is a time and place for that. For many of us who are trying to build a business and take market share, we can’t buy time, we can’t afford consultants and we need to remove as much bias from our system. Software does not solve it all but having it usually means you have a technology core in which to disrupt the hell out of others with last year’s model.