What #JobsToBeDone is, and is not

We are clearly at a crossroads in Job Theory-land. Those that have been developing this (even before it was called Jobs Theory) for…

We are clearly at a crossroads in Job Theory-land. Those that have been developing this (even before it was called Jobs Theory) for decades, testing it, proving it’s successful application to product and service innovation have their view of things. Those that are fast-following and trying to re-purpose the term Jobs-to-be-Done to mean something else, have their view.

The Traditional View of Jobs

As early as 1962, the concept that people don’t need a product, they need to accomplish something was offered for consideration. While this simplistic example does not investigate the problem deeply, it does highlight the fact that product-centric thinking is highly limiting for both product developers and marketers.

If we look at the world through the lens of an offering — product or service — we miss opportunities to understand the bigger picture of adjacent opportunities to serve customers. This is one place where growth comes from — not just adding features to existing products.

Since there a…