Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice

Another great book and must read from Clay Christensen. I'm the first to admit that I'm extremely biased as I am a big admirer of his theories and books. They not only provide a framework on how to view and think about the world but also a way of predicting likely outcomes. His previous works The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care and How Will You Measure Your Life? have fundamentally made me rethink the opportunities for improvement both in health care and oneself.His latest book convincingly creates a robust framework on his simple elegant and insightful queries of: What Is the Job to be Done? What Job Did Someone Hire a Product or Service to do? He begins by reiterating his famous milkshake story. Why do people hire a milkshake? What job is it that they need to make progress on? Why can't a donut, fruit or other products be hired? Why is it IKEA is so successful? How is it that the OnStar feature was popular with both Chevrolet and Cadillac consumers? What Job are people hiring Airbnb or Khan Academy to do?The answer is that they solve the customer's struggle for progress towards a specific goal. IKEA - I need to furnish a living space easily, cheaply, quickly with a stress-free experience. OnStar - I want peace of mind or help when I'm driving and something happens. Airbnb - I need a place to stay that isn't a hotel experience. Khan Academy - I need to learn in a way that is easy and convenient for me. Discovering these future jobs to be done that people wish to hire can be as simple as stepping back and asking yourself - isn't there a better way to do this? Creating a solution takes more work, more listening, and more questions to customers and observing them in the Jobs to Be Done framework.The robust framework of Jobs to Be Done is deliberate by Christensen and team. Jobs to Be Done and Jobs to Hire or Fire conceptually is easy to grasp. As a result, it also has the potential to be overused incorrectly like his previous theory on Disruption which is overused and often erroneously to describe any innovation or change. Specifically for Jobs to Be Done, successful innovators and problem solvers need to consider the specific circumstance the job would be hired as well as the functional, social, and emotional aspects of the job. Each of these elements could enable adoption or create barriers to getting the solution hired. (Example- a Detroit real estate developer just couldn't seem to get deals closed. The a-ha moment was when the developer truly understood the obstacle to selling the home was that potential home buyers didn't know what to do with their dining room tables. These dining room tables symbolized a lifetime of memories. Once the real estate developers realized that they were not in the building new home construction business but in the business of moving lives, they provided services and products that met the emotional needs of their clients. Result? The number of sold homes increased).Fabulous and detailed stories from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), American Girl, Intuit (makers of TurboTax and Quickbooks), OnStar, bring to life the challenges, and opportunities to bring a solution to Jobs to Be Done. Traps and obstacles await for those trying to build novel solutions inside an existing organizations and for others who rely too quickly on traditional data metrics once the solution to the job to be done has proven to be successful.Christensen concludes "I've spent twenty years gathering evidence so that you can put your time, energy, and resources into creating products and services that you can predict, in advance, customers will be eager to hire. Leaving relying on luck to the other guys."It is his finest book yet. A must have on the self of any business leader or entrepreneur. Like his previous works, destined to be a classic and reference for years to come.

The WSJ on Dec 30, 2016 has a great article about storytelling. The article notes that "stories are profoundly intimate", per historian Kari Winter. Since Competing Against Luck is at its core a treatise on how critical "story" is for innovation (it's often the missing link), it stands to reason that the book can also be described as profound and intimate.I really appreciated the time spent in grounding in the importance of theory. The authors have a great blend of rigorous academia and practical application that is the truest application of scientific theory. Far too often when books written by academics talk about scientific theory it's all analysis without any true observation and experiments.The idea of the big hire (purchase) and little hire (usage) was also really important to me. A lot of companies pick just one or the other to build data around. Some just focus on need states or moments (the little hire), but within 6-12 months of building out that moments fact-base they come to the realization that no data exists there and it is impossible to measure or manage, per Peter Drucker. Some focus on just shopping missions (the big hire), but lack the empathy to care what happens next.Finally, I appreciated the time spent discussing the organizational implications. I've long argued that market share is an important, but wholly insufficient measure to run your business. Share of category growth and share of category profit are also really important and measurable with data today. But the authors are suggesting is that one of the best metrics that doesn't yet exist is "share of story" or "share of struggle". It's probably the truest measure of how well your innovation (and your entire business is doing).But beyond it being profound, I really appreciated the intimacy of the individual stories. The intimacy makes it fun to read.Not many books are worthy to buy and read. Some books are worthy enough to read and share. And a very select few are worthy to read and re-read regularly. I know people who treat JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as an example of an evergreen read. I think this book is worthy to buy, share and re-read to ensure you are on the straight and narrow path to innovation success that is story.

Actualización 1. Llegó un poco golpeado el libro, yo lo pedí pasta dura.En cuanto lo lea colocaré una actualización

Eu conheci o Jobs to Be Done sendo aplicado na prática por alguns profissionais de produto e design e não fazia idéia que o Jobs to Be Done é algo tão maior e mais estratégico na análise dos desafios dos seus clientes e da sua própria empresa.O livro possui uma linguagem leve, direta ao ponto e cheia de exemplo, acabei de ler em metade de uma semana e achei o conteúdo ótimo.

So much wisdom in this book! I totally recommend it to anyone wanting to start a business. It will give you the knowledge and foundations needed for a successful start.

Paradygm shift from what to why and a different vision re customer’s centric strategy. Not the usual theories about segmentation and human beings, rather focus on processes and causality that may trigger outcomes.

I came to this book through a recommendation that Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, co-founders of Instagram, made in the Starting Greatness podcast. What job do our customers hire our product to do?. "if you’re responsible for selling something to people… knowing what job you’re solving for people is the most important thing a product person can do.” – Kevin Systrom. Highly recommended, a new way to see your product and how to improve it, and even change who your competitors are.