Jobs to be Done is a way to understand why customers behave the way they do. It lays the groundwork for on-target innovation by digging deep to uncover what people are really seeking in a purchase occasion and what vectors exist for new ways to perform. Done right, this approach is both expansive and precise, uncovering a landscape of opportunity and exactly what must be done to meet customer needs. It is used across many...
I once managed a Zambian subsidiary of the pan-African cellular network Celtel. Even in our most challenging environments, such as DR Congo, the company won consistent praise for its honest dealings and abstention from corrupt practices. Celtel and other firms that succeed in these settings offer four moves:
Watch James Cameron’s blockbuster, and you might attribute the Titanic’s sinking 100+ years ago to hubris — the ship was moving too fast through iceberg-laden waters. But the causes of the disaster and its morals are more complex than that, and they contain important learnings for any organization trying to move quickly in unfamiliar territory:
It is wonderful to break technological and business model rules, but businesses trying to deviate from well-established patterns of market adoption usually end up much bloodied and poorer for the effort.
Management consulting is an industry built on facts. A “fact-based decision” (a phrase that returns 774,000,000 Google results) requires legions of analysts to gather and crunch data, and it so happens that consulting firms supply precisely such people. Facts appear to de-politicize decisions, imposing objectivity and facilitating difficult choices. Who but an imbecile could be against reaching for data?
