The Jobs To Be Done Playbook

Keep in mind that related goals may even compete with the main job and each other. For instance, buying a large-ticket item like a car or house may detract from growing a retirement portfolio. As a result, progress in our lives is the sum of the outcomes of related jobs, and balance is often required.

The main job shouldn’t include adjectives like quick, easy, or inexpensive.

In a time when businesses are encouraged to “fail fast” and “break things,” JTBD offers a more structured way to find solutions that resonate with customers in advance. Although there is no guarantee, understanding individuals’ objectives and needs provides more targeted insight from the beginning. Product success isn’t just left to luck or experimentation.

Understanding the process of the job performer’s intent is key to JTBD.

verb + object + clarifier
Examples include: visit family on special occasions, remove snow from pathways, listen to music on a run, and plan long-term financial well-being.

The key distinctions to make are between the main job, related jobs, and emotional and social jobs.

The business imperative has flipped from a push to a pull: companies don’t sell products, they buy customers.

JTBD is compatible with modern techniques, such as Design Thinking, Agile, and Lean.

people act and decide in ways that help them achieve their objective

To be clear, JTBD is not about customer journeys or experiences with product, which assume a relationship to a given provider. Customer journey investigations seek to answer questions such as: When do people first hear about a given solution? How did they decide to select the organization’s offerings? What keeps them using it? These are all important questions to answer, but they also don’t get to the underlying job.