When Being Customer-Focused Isn’t Enough Many organizations proudly promote being “customer focused” in their vision, mission, values and/or culture. I think we can all agree that this is a good thing because, for starters, without customers, there wouldn’t be a business. And probably all of us can cite many reasons why we like doing business …
Putting Jobs-to-be-Done into Action Some of you may remember that I shared a video a few months ago from which the still shot above was taken. “Squat University,” an online strength-building fitness company, used the video to demonstrate why “strength training is something we should do for the rest of our lives. It allows us …
This False Belief is Killing Innovation Most people think innovation is inherently risky and messy. That’s understandable when you consider that about 50-90% of new products fail. And yet, studies have repeatedly shown that the primary reason for high failure rates is misunderstanding the customers’ needs. Some experts claim that 90% of all new businesses …
How JTBD Reveals Latent Unarticulated Needs Success at innovation requires that we remember “the drill is not the hole.” The drill is a solution designed to help customers make a hole. Other solutions could be a pick, punch, a laser, or some yet-to-be-invented tool. The customer need is to “make a hole.” People confuse customer …
A Beautiful Illustration About What Customers Want Most business leaders are looking for ways to create unique value for their target customers to differentiate and grow. But how do you create unique value in a repeatable manner? Is it even possible? Yes, it is possible, but you must understand what a customer “need” really is …
Better Questions Will Improve the Information You Receive from Customers Leaders often execute strategy and innovation in the wrong sequence. Here’s what the former CEO of P&G, A.G. Lafley, and business consultant, Ram Charan, say about this: “All too often, managers decide on a business strategy – what markets to pursue and what products to …
Why It Is Essential to Get the Front End of Innovation Right The late great coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, began the first day of practice every year telling his players, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Some people might find this silly but that would be a mistake. Coach Lombardi knew that …
Selling More Isn’t Always About Selling Here’s a classic 5-minute video of the late great Harvard Business School Professor, Clayton Christensen, explaining how the jobs-to-de-done (JTBD) innovation approach can help any business sell more. The breakthrough jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) approach he is describing has nothing to do with “selling.” 3 Takeaways: First, being “customer-focused” is not …
Why Most Organizations are Failing at Innovation Study after study has shown that the #1 reason for startup and new product failure is “no market need,” i.e., misunderstanding customer needs. The primary challenge of innovation is not to come up with ideas, develop and commercialize them; it’s to gain clarity about the opportunities in your …
How to Make the Competition Irrelevant Most leaders agree that obtaining competitive information is essential for developing an effective strategy. Gaining competitive intelligence is often viewed as similar to gaining military intelligence. The big difference is that in capitalism we are fighting to earn the business of customers. In war, there are no customers, and …
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