Anthony W. Ulwick

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“The Jobs-To-Be-Done approach drove within us a heightened focus on our customers. We discovered important and often “unspoken” customer needs. Even in established markets, we gained new insights enabling stronger value propositions, more impactful customer communications, and innovation better aligned with market needs.”

David Rusinko
Director Strategic Marketing, Momentive
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“The ODI process provides broad and detailed customer insights that are superior to typical market research methods and critical to developing better solutions for customers. ODI helped us understand a new space and identify the underserved needs so we could enter a new market in a differentiated manner.”


Brian Craig
VP of Strategy and Business Development, Surgical Innovations, Medtronic
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CONTENTS


Foreword by Alex Osterwalder
11


INTRODUCTION: THE FAILURE THAT LED TO SUCCESS
14


THEORY

1. 
   WHY DO INNOVATION PROJECTS FAIL?
   

31
All companies want to satisfy their customer’s needs. So what is standing in the way? The problem is there is no agreement on what a “need” even is.

2. 
   JOBS-TO-BE-DONE NEEDS FRAMEWORK
   

47
A key implication of Jobs-to-be-Done Theory is that it provides a framework for categorizing, defining, capturing and organizing the 6 types of customer needs.

• 
  The Core Functional Job-to-be-Done
  
• 
  Desired Outcomes On the Core Functional Job
  
• 
  Related Jobs
  
• 
  Emotional and Social Jobs
  
• 
  Consumption Chain Jobs
  
• 
  Financial Desired Outcomes
  

3. 
   THE JOBS-TO-BE-DONE GROWTH STRATEGY MATRIX
   

62
New products and services win when they get a job done better and/or more cheaply. This observation leads to five unique growth
strategies companies can employ to address opportunities in a market.

• 
  Differentiated Strategy
  
• 
  Dominant Strategy
  
• 
  Disruptive Strategy
  
• 
  Discrete Strategy
  
• 
  Sustaining Strategy
  

PROCESS

4. 
   OUTCOME-DRIVEN INNOVATION®
   

81
Following the Outcome-Driven Innovation® (ODI) process enables companies to conceptualize new solutions that help customers get a job done better and/or more cheaply. It has an 86% success rate
because it begins with a deep understanding of the Job-to-be-Done
and employs unique quantitative research methods that enable companies to analyze markets in ways that have never before been possible.

1. 
   Define the Customer
   
2. 
   Define the Job-to-be-Done
   
3. 
   Uncover Customer Needs
   
   • 
     The Universal Job Map
     
   • 
     The Desired Outcome Statement
     
4. 
   Find Segments of Opportunity
   
5. 
   Define the Value Proposition
   
6. 
   Conduct the Competitive Analysis
   
7. 
   Formulate the Innovation Strategy
   
8. 
   Target Hidden Growth Opportunities
   
   • 
     The Opportunity Algorithm
     
   • 
     The Opportunity Landscape
     
9. 
   Formulate the Market Strategy
   
10. 
    Formulate the Product Strategy
    

5. 
   CASE STUDIES
   

124
The ODI process has been employed throughout the world in hundreds of companies. Here are a few stories that describe the ODI process in action, what hidden opportunities the process reveals, and the results it delivers.

• 
  Microsoft
  
• 
  Kroll Ontrack
  
• 
  Arm & Hammer
  
• 
  Bosch
  
• 
  Abbott Medical Optics
  
• 
  Hussmann
  

PRACTICE

6. 
   BECOMING AN ODI PRACTITIONER
   

162
To effectively execute an ODI project, an ODI practitioner must have the skills and instruction to do so. Listed in this chapter are the 84 steps an ODI practitioner must execute to produce a winning outcome-driven growth strategy. Learn what it takes to put Jobs-to- be-Done Theory into practice and become an effective ODI practitioner.

7. 
   TRANSFORMING THE ORGANIZATION
   

176
Putting Jobs-to-be-Done Theory and ODI into practice is not easy, but let’s not make it harder than it needs to be. Using a three- phased approach, a company is able to see its markets through a new lens, obtain customer insights that have previously been impossible to obtain, and use them to drive growth through innovation.

1. 
   Understand Your Customer’s Job-to-be-Done
   
2. 
   Discover Hidden Opportunities In Your Market
   
3. 
   Use New Customer Insights to Drive Growth
   

8. 
   THE LANGUAGE OF JOBS-TO-BE-DONE
   

186
A common language of innovation has the power to unite an organization in its effort to build a competency in innovation. These are the terms we use to define the concepts that comprise Jobs-to- be-Done Theory and Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI).

9. 
   LEARN MORE 195
   
   • 
     A Brief History of Jobs-to-be-Done (Timeline)
     
   • 
     Online Learning Resources
     
   • 
     Videos and Webinars
     
   • 
     Books and Articles
     

CONTACT TONY ULWICK
201
FOREWORD
Alex Osterwalder


A recent research study by pricing firm Simon-Kucher & Partners shows that 72% of all new product & service introductions fail to live up to expectations. It doesn’t have to be that way. The right tools, processes, and organizational structures can help companies better navigate today’s challenging, ever changing, and dynamic business environment. This book contributes an important piece to the equation of how companies can avoid falling victim to disruption by smaller or newer players in the market.

When I started working on business model innovation, I quickly realized that business practitioners needed simple, practical, and intuitive tools to do a better job at coming up with new business models. We needed a shared

language. And that’s why we designed tools like
the Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, and Culture Map to provide a shared language for communicating complex topics and making them tangible.

The importance of process and tools cannot be overstated. Process drives efficiency. Tools create a guided framework for conversations. They encourage participants to collaborate in different environments, and perhaps most importantly, they encourage participants to discuss something tangible. However, the tools, processes, and

culture required for successful innovation differ from those applied today to guarantee the successful execution and improvement of known business models and value propositions.

Companies that don’t want their future prosperity to suffer at the expense of present success need to complement their execution-focused toolbox and mindset with an innovation- focused toolbox and mindset. Tony Ulwick and his team

at Strategyn provide an important part of this toolbox.

I learned to appreciate Tony Ulwick’s work when I

dove deeper into the Jobs-to-be-Done concept via Professor Clayton Christensen book, The Innovator’s Solution (Harvard Business School Press, 2003), and Tony’s article The Customer- Centered Innovation Map (Harvard Business Review, 2008).
Subsequently, I discovered Strategyn’s powerful Outcome- Driven Innovation (ODI) process that companies can use to effectively execute the innovation process. Ultimately, this research led my team and me to design the Value Proposition Canvas.

I’ve studied Tony’s work over the years and come to appreciate how the process is able to effectively take a lot of the guesswork out of the innovation process. Tony has succeeded in bringing us a tested model and framework for innovation management that greatly increases the probability of success. It is an important part of

the equation of how companies can avoid getting disrupted
and successfully fight off competitors by obsessing over what really matters to customers.