When defined correctly, a functional Job-to-be-Done has three unique and extremely valuable characteristics:

First, a job is stable; it doesn’t change over time. It’s the delivery vehicle or the technology that changes. Take the music industry, for example. Over the years people have used many products to help them “listen to music” (the Job-to-be-Done). This has included record players, tape and cassette players, compact disc players, MP3s and streaming services. Through this decades-long evolution of drastically changing technology platforms, the Job-to-be-Done has remained the same. The job is a stable focal point around which to create customer value.

Second, a job has no geographical boundaries. People who live in the USA, France, UK, Germany, South Korea, China, Russia, Brazil and Australia have many jobs in common that they are trying to get done. The solutions they use to get those jobs done may vary dramatically from geography to geography, but the jobs are the same. The degree to which the customer’s desired outcomes are underserved may also vary by geography, depending on the solutions they use, but their collective set of desired outcomes are the same. Consequently, knowledge of the Job-to-be-Done in one geography can be leveraged globally.

Third, a job is solution agnostic. The Job-to-be-Done does not care if your company provides product, software, or service offerings. The job has no solution boundaries. This means that a deep understanding of the job will inform the creation of a solution that combines hardware, software and service components. It also informs a digitalization strategy—ways to use technology to get a job done better.

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JOBS TO BE DONE: Theory to Practice
by Anthony Ulwick
IDEA BITE PRESS October 25, 2016