Hi there! This course is about Jobs to be done, a contemporary methodology for identifying and precisely defining customer needs with respect to the “jobs” they’re trying to get done. Once prioritized, these needs define the value that individuals and organizations want from products and services to get those jobs done better, faster and cheaper.

With this knowledge, a company can consistently create new products and services and enhance existing offerings that can satisfy customer needs better than competing solutions. Further, with reliable value targets in hand, companies can create and maintain “best value” solutions for customers while minimizing the cost structure of those offerings. This makes it possible to maximize the demand and profitability of a product or service throughout its entire market lifecycle.

Now, the Jobs to be Done construct, whether explicit or implied, is an essential part of many popular innovation approaches and methodologies such as design thinking, ethnography in its many forms, the lean startup, as well as the business model and value proposition canvas. So, a good understanding of Jobs to be Done can add additional rigor to these methodologies, which can translate to more innovation success.

The Jobs to be Done framework discussed in this course is useful for all kinds of innovation efforts. Further, you don’t have to be an expert with years of experience to get the benefits of this approach. Anyone with just a little education can be a Jobs to be Done practitioner. In short, Jobs to be Done is a fast, reliable and inexpensive way to define the value that customers want from products and services and is really an indispensable tool for all those involved with innovation.

So, whether you’re an aspiring or working business professional looking to increase your innovation skills or an organization looking to increase workforce innovation capabilities, this Jobs to be Done course will be of interest to you.

Now to set expectations, this is a conceptual primer—the purpose of which is to lay the foundation for an informed Jobs to be Done practice. Specifically, the focus is on Jobs to be Done concepts and theory, the application framework and customer demand dynamics as viewed through the lens of Jobs Theory.

Lastly, it should be noted that Jobs to be Done represents a culmination of the research and writings contributed by various individuals over the last 70 years. These contributors include academics across multiple disciplines and key individuals who pioneered many of the Jobs to be Done methods currently in use.

Today there’re two schools of thought regarding Jobs to be Done, both of which are thoroughly discussed. We view both schools as two sides of the same coin, so to speak. As such, the approach suggested in this Jobs to be Done course is a synthesis of both schools, producing a comprehensive and well-structured methodology.