Yes, you can consistently win at innovation and growth. But not with the thinking that prevails today.

It’s no surprise that most executives want more innovation if we understand innovation to be a way to adapt, differentiate, and grow. Unfortunately, innovation (new product) success rates have remained stubbornly low for decades. I think I know why.

It all comes back to a famous quote by the late great Harvard Business School professor, Theodore Levitt when he said, “People don’t want to buy a ¼” drill; they want a ¼” hole!”

Many people have heard this quote and recognized its truth. Far fewer, however, understand the implications it has for transforming innovation into a repeatable business process. The quote illustrates three important truths that lie at the heart of the “Jobs-to-Be-Done” innovation approach.

First, products and services are separate and distinct from customer needs. In this case, the product is a drill while the customer need is to “make a hole.” Other product solutions might be a pick, a punch, a laser, or some yet-to-be-invented tool but, regardless, all product and service solutions are separate and distinct from the true customer need which is to make a hole.

Second, people hire products and services to get their jobs done. This is the key insight behind the Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) innovation approach. Just as we hire people to help us get our jobs done, we also “hire” products and services to help us get our jobs done. When we have a job to be done, we look around for a product or service to do it.

Jobs Theory explains why people buy various products and services. This is a breakthrough for innovation management because now we can say with confidence that, if you can help your target customers get their jobs done better than other competitive offerings, then you will create unique value for them, and they will be more inclined to buy your offering.

As the late Clayton Christensen said, “We believe Jobs Theory will make an enormous difference in the quest to shift innovation from a game of chance to a predictable endeavor…Your perspective will be irrevocably shifted – but for the better.¹”

Third, although this is not obvious from Levitt’s quote, if we can keep the distinction that product and service solutions are separate and distinct from customer needs in mind, then we can turn innovation and growth into a repeatable business process. More to come about this in a future post.

This blog is the introduction to a series that I intend to write to address the question, “How do you build an innovation process that consistently delivers results.” At this time, future blogs include:

1. Why establishing a language of innovation is necessary.
2. What is innovation?
3. Who are your target customers?
4. What is a customer need, unmet need, and an opportunity?
5. What is a market and a market segment?
6. Who are your competitors?
7. What is creativity? How does it fit in to the overall innovation process?
8. Where do Design Thinking and Lean Startup fit in?
9. Other questions you may have?

Please feel free to email me or post a question or comment. Together, we can gain a fuller understanding and mastery of these issues!

Footnotes:

1. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice, By Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David S. Duncan, Harper Collins, 2016, p. 41.

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