Comments for I'm Not Actually a Geek

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Brian Tolle

Brian Tolle — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:57:04 +0000

Hi Hutch and Alec, I think one part of the dynamic of jobs diverging over time relates to the consumer’s changing expectations of quality/product dimensions. We use the Kano Model a lot to help explain how “wow” features migrate over time to “expected” features.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Brian Tolle

Brian Tolle — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:51:35 +0000

Hi Hutch, in case you’re interested, I just started reading Adam Lashinsky’s “Inside Apple” that came out in January of this year re: the Apple culture. Fascinating stuff.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Hutch Carpenter

Hutch Carpenter — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:25:28 +0000

It’s so prevalent, I don’t think it’s a case of specific personality types attracted to product/strategy jobs who are extremely tone-deaf. Rather, it’s deeply ingrained into the process itself. Everything is about the success you’re having, not the changes that are happening.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Hutch Carpenter

Hutch Carpenter — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:09:23 +0000

Hi Steven -

Job 2, 3 are new needs that people have. “Needs” might be overstating it, perhaps one could say they are things people want to. For example. People have taken to sharing their thoughts and reading those of others during TV sports events and popular programs (e.g. American Idol). My job is to be able to share those moments. Now, I can just write a tweet. But would if I could click a point in time of the program, make that a link and use that my tweet or Facebook post.

Now, when your focus is only on picture quality, you’re *not* thinking about this new job-to-be-done. Sure, the manifestation of the job is a feature. But the feature only gets there by knowing the job I want to get done.

What do you think?

Hutch

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Hutch Carpenter

Hutch Carpenter — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:00:12 +0000

Yeah, that first one, that jobs diverge over time. It strikes me as the root cause of so many companies’ going under. hey need a mix of increased awareness of changes, and an institutional willingness to do something about it.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Hutch Carpenter

Hutch Carpenter — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:52:51 +0000

Thanks Brian. And it is amazing how similar remote controls are to the old, pre-iPhone mobile phones. Lots and lots of excess keys and functions. Definitely needs some iPhone-ization.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Rick Ladd

Rick Ladd — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:00:15 +0000

Hutch – I really like your concept of “Jobs-to-be-done” as a metaphor for understanding customer/consumer requirements. This seems such a no-brainer, yet companies consistently seem to stagnate and pay more attention to what they’re doing than what they could be doing. In the process, their (shall we call them) crowd-sourced design team is completely ignored. It seems they go on the defensive, scrambling to fix their shortcomings rather than working collaboratively to design a way beyond them. I guess this is just another job-to-be-done wrt the use of social media to truly communicate with, rather than react to and direct, consumers.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Steven Chayer

Steven Chayer — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:19:49 +0000

Hutch: (Sorry meant to take out you wrote)

I’m not sure what the difference is between a job 2 or 3 and a new feature. Doesn’t completing or responding to job 2 or 3 result in a new feature?

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Steven Chayer

Steven Chayer — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:17:00 +0000

Hutch: You wrote: I’m not sure what the difference is between a job 2 or 3 and a new feature. Doesn’t completing or responding to job 2 or 3 result in a new feature?

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Steven Chayer

Steven Chayer — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:11:27 +0000

Dan, You wrote: “their needs are quite different from the early adopters/innovators.”

Please help me understand what those “needs” are? I am about to launch a new product and want to thoroughly recognize and appreciate what the the needs of my target audiences might be.

Thank you.

Steve Chayer

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Alec Maki (@alec_maki)

Alec Maki (@alec_maki) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:07:37 +0000

Very nice write up on 1) jobs diverging over time and 2) the traps of feature-led innovation and 3) clear examples of how incumbents have had their focus on the wrong jobs at the wrong time (both yesterday with Palm and today with incumbent HDTV leaders). Well done.

Comment on It’s the Jobs-to-Be-Done, Stupid! by Alec Maki (@alec_maki)

Alec Maki (@alec_maki) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Jobs had Jobs-to-be-done. So true.