Prepare the job map interview guide.
Understand the characteristics/structure of a job statement.
Conduct customer interviews to define the core functional Job-to-be-Done.
In complex markets, conduct quantitative research to define/validate the jobs that a platform solution gets done.
Conduct customer interviews to create the initial job map.
Gain the project team’s preliminary agreement on the Job-to-be-Done, job map and project plan.
In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project planner, a facilitator, a market researcher and a team builder.
II. UNCOVER THE CUSTOMER’S NEEDS
In the second phase of an ODI engagement, the ODI practitioner must capture a complete set of customer needs. This includes all the desired outcomes on the core functional job along with the customer’s related jobs and emotional jobs. In addition, the desired outcomes on any consumption chain jobs of interest and the buyer’s financial metrics must be uncovered.
The goal in this phase of the engagement is to create the qualitative market research deliverable. It should contain a complete set of needs built around the Jobs-to-be-Done Needs Framework. The 18 steps that the ODI Practitioner must take to effectively execute the second phase of a project are as follows:
Create screener(s) to recruit candidates for outcome-gathering interviews.
Determine the format for conducting outcome-gathering interviews.
Prepare the outcome-gathering interview guide.
Recruit customer interview candidates for outcome-gathering interviews.
Understand the characteristics of a desired outcome statement.
Understand the structure of a desired outcome statement.
Conduct outcome-gathering interviews.
Uncover desired outcome statements on the Job-to-be-Done.
Net desired outcome statements (organize, refine, finalize).
Uncover related jobs.
Uncover emotional and social jobs.
Uncover relevant consumption chain jobs.
Uncover desired outcomes on relevant consumption chain jobs.
Uncover the buyer’s financial desired outcomes.
Uncover factors that explain why some customers struggle more than others.
Gain the project team’s agreement on the final job map, outcomes, and other statements.
Evaluate existing and pipeline products against needs (team exercise).
Create the qualitative research deliverable.
In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project manager, a qualitative market research practitioner, and a team builder.
III. GATHER QUANTITATIVE DATA
In the third phase of an ODI engagement, the ODI practitioner must create, test, deploy and manage a survey that is fielded to a statistically valid sample of the customer population.
The goal in this phase of the engagement is to gather the data that is needed to (i) conduct outcome-based segmentation analysis, (ii) conduct competitive analysis, (iii) determine what customer needs and under-and overserved, (iv) determine the degree to which a need is under-and overserved, and (v) inform dozens of other downstream decisions that must be made to formulate the market and product strategy.
The 18 steps that the ODI Practitioner must take to effectively execute the third phase of a project are as follows:
Determine the unit of analysis for the quantitative survey.
Design the sample plan.
Determine how to weight the data.
Define any unique data analyses that are required.
Construct the screening questions for the quantitative survey.
Construct the profiling questions for the quantitative survey.
Construct the willingness-to-pay questions for the quantitative survey.
Format the outcome questions in the survey instrument for optimal results.
Gain the project team’s agreement on the survey (instrument and questionnaire).
Select a vendor for data collection.
Translate the completed survey into required languages.
Program the survey for fielding.
Pilot/test the survey for fielding.
Field the survey.
Monitor the survey progress.
Prepare analytical tools for data analysis.
Receive the data from the data collection vendor.
Verify the data is valid (clean the data).
In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project manager, a quantitative market research practitioner, and a third-party research manager.
IV. DISCOVER HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH
In the fourth phase of an ODI engagement, the ODI practitioner must use the quantitative data that was collected in the previous phase to conduct Outcome-Based Segmentation analysis, competitive analysis and other analyses as required. The goal of this phase is to (i) run the analyses that are needed to address the key questions detailed in the scope of the project, and (ii) create the research deliverable.
The research deliverable explains what outcome-based segments were discovered, offers a description of each segment, reveals what hidden opportunities were discovered, and provides the information that is needed to formulate the market and product strategy.
The 10 steps that the ODI Practitioner must take to effectively execute the forth phase of a project are as follows:
Weight the quantitative data.
Create Outcome-Based Segmentation models.
Determine which segmentation model to use.
Conduct the analyses needed for segment profiling.
Determine what variables underlie the segmentation model (complexity factors).
Create a data-driven profile/description for each segment.
Determine what outcomes are underserved/overserved in each segment.
Determine the strengths and weaknesses of competitors in each segment.
Identify which outcomes are most influential in the customer’s willingness-to-pay in each segment.
Complete commonly requested data analyses.
Create the opportunity discovery deliverable.
In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project manager, a quantitative market research practitioner, a data analyst, and a strategist.
V. FORMULATE THE MARKET STRATEGY
In the fifth phase of an ODI engagement, the ODI practitioner uses the information resulting from the previously conducted data analyses to formulate a market strategy. The market strategy is usually constructed in conjunction with the project team.
The goal of this phase is to formulate, document, present, refine, and gain cross-functional agreement on the market strategy.
The 12 steps that the ODI Practitioner must take to effectively execute the fifth phase of a project are as follows:
Determine the strengths of existing and pipeline products (team exercise)
Determine what outcome-based segments and outcomes to target
Define the value proposition for each outcome-based segment
Define the value proposition for the product category
Determine what existing and pipeline products to target at each segment
Determine how to message each product
Determine how to integrate the new value proposition into existing company promotional channels/materials, e.g., the website, etc.
Propose an outcome-based digital marketing strategy, e.g., AdWords campaign, SEO optimization, etc.
Create a customer acquisition tool that assigns customers to segments
Gain the project team’s agreement on the market strategy
Create the market strategy deliverable
Educate the sales/marketing team on executing the market strategy
In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project manager, a data analyst, a strategist, a facilitator, and a team builder.
VI. FORMULATE THE PRODUCT STRATEGY
In the sixth and final phase of an ODI engagement, the ODI practitioner uses the information resulting from the previously conducted data analyses to formulate a product strategy. The product strategy, like the market strategy, is usually constructed in conjunction with the project team.
The goal of this final phase is to formulate, document, present, refine, and gain cross-functional agreement on the product strategy.
The 10 steps that the ODI Practitioner must take to effectively execute the fifth phase of a project are as follows:
Determine the weaknesses of existing and pipeline products (team exercise)
Determine what outcomes to target to address competitive weaknesses
Determine what value creation opportunities to address in each segment
Determine what cost reduction opportunities to address in each segment
Facilitate ideation to improve existing products
Facilitate ideation to improve pipeline products
Facilitate ideation to conceptualize new products/platforms
Gain the project team’s agreement on the product strategy
Create the product strategy deliverable for each product
Create the product strategy deliverable for the product portfolio
In this phase of the project the ODI practitioner is a project manager, a data analyst, a strategist, a facilitator, and a team builder.
What skills are required to be a good ODI Practitioner?
Given the demanding responsibilities of the ODI Practitioner, we recommend that candidates meet all (or at least most) of the following qualifications:
Process orientation and systems mentality.
Skilled and experienced in qualitative and quantitative research practices.
Superior creative problem-solving, analytical, and quantitative skills.
Previous experience on a product team.
Trained in Six-Sigma practices.
Team leadership and group facilitation capabilities.
Strong communication skills with ability to synthesize, document, and present knowledge effectively.
Detail orientation. Highly organized.
Strong knowledge of PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.
Now you know what it is like and what it takes to become an ODI Practitioner.
7 .
TRANSFORMING THE ORGANIZATION
>> CONTENTS
When companies think about building an innovation competency, they often think about training hundreds or even thousands of employees as part of a change management effort—they want their employees to think differently about innovation. When companies take this approach, they usually have the concept of innovation inextricably linked with broad cultural change in the organization.
What we have learned is that innovation (at least product and service innovation that results in revenue growth) should not be everyone’s responsibility. It should be the responsibility of a small group of people—those who work to inform those that decide what markets to enter and grow and what products to place in the product development pipeline. The rest of the organization simply has to do what it has always done—that is, validate, prototype, design, build, create, ship, and launch new products. In my mind, training the entire organization for this purpose is not only time-consuming and costly, but it is an unnecessary activity. Most companies are great at creating products—they just aren’t that great at creating the right products.
Many companies have reached the same conclusion, and this leads us to our recommended approach to building an innovation competency, which is to create a team of internal ODI practitioners who will form the core of an Innovation Center of Excellence. This team, armed with the right tools and the appropriate training and support, are responsible for applying Jobs Theory and ODI practices to carefully selected markets and transforming the company into an outcome-driven organization.
The success of this team, and the innovation program, is dependent on using a customer-centric, data-driven innovation process that mitigates the risk of failure and leads to winning market and product strategies. If companies had to develop such a process on their own, it could take years, but fortunately Strategyn has already done that work. Outcome-Driven Innovation is that process. Once your organization is ready to test or adopt Jobs Theory and ODI, you are ready for the next step.
As in any endeavor, picking the right team is essential for success. Practices that we have seen work the best include building the team around or into an established Six Sigma program. We find that Six Sigma certified practitioners with qualitative and quantitative market research experience are often the best at understanding and applying ODI effectively within the organization. When armed with the right tools, they quickly begin transforming the organization.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Building an outcome-driven organization is best accomplished in three phases:
I: Understand your Customer’s Job-to-be-Done
II. Discover Hidden Opportunities in Your Market
III. Use New Customer Insights to Drive Growth
Think about putting one product team through this process at a time, or putting many teams through simultaneously.
In Phase I, the cross-functional team for a selected product area participates in an intensive one-day workshop in which an ODI practitioner engages the team in a unique customer journey. For the first time the team sees its market through a “Jobs-to-be-Done” lens, and it learns what customer insights they need to drive outcome-driven decision-making. The team walks away with highly valuable customer insights derived from ODI-based qualitative research. The time commitment associated with this phase is relatively low, yet it moves the team well toward its goal of being outcome-driven.
In Phase II, the ODI practitioner leads the ODI-based quantitative research effort. With a statistically valid data set in hand, the ODI practitioner conducts outcome-based segmentation analysis, competitive analysis and others analyses needed to inform a market and product strategy. With the insights that result from these analyses, the company is able to make data-driven business decisions for years to come.
In Phase III, the ODI practitioner teaches managers and employees across the organization how to use these insights to formulate market and product strategies and to drive outcome-driven decision-making. Let’s look at each phase in more detail:
PHASE I: UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER’S JOB-TO-BE-DONE
The best way to learn how to be customer-centric is to apply the basic Jobs-to-be-Done principles to your market. In Phase I, the cross-functional product team experiences the power of outcome-driven thinking in a one-day workshop in which they (i) learn the fundamentals of Jobs Theory and the ODI process, (ii) participate in a facilitated qualitative research discussion designed to obtain critical customer information, and (iii) begin to use their newfound insights to make outcome-driven business decisions in their market. The completion of Phase I will boost the team’s ability to succeed at innovation because they leave in agreement on (i) who the customer is, (ii) what functional and emotional jobs the customer is trying to get done, (iii) the job map, (iv) what a customer need is, and (v) what the customer’s needs are—the metrics customers uses to measure success and value when trying to get the job done.
The workshop employs the techniques and principles showcased in the Harvard Business Review article I co-authored titled “The Customer-Centered Innovation Map” (May 2008). Workshop participants typically include the product team (e.g., marketing, sales, planning, engineering, R&D), a handful of external customers, and the ODI practitioner, who leads the effort. The workshop is designed to shift the product team’s thinking along a number of fronts (see the table below).
Expected Impact of Phase I: Qualitative Insights
Team Thinking Before Phase I
Team Thinking After Phase I
The product team disagrees on who the customer is (the buyer, user, installer, influencer).
The product team agrees on who the customers are and w
hy.
The team defines the market from a product-centric perspective (around the product or technology).
The team defines the market from a customer-centric perspective (around the Job-to-be-Done).
The team doesn’t know what job the customer is trying to get done.
The team agrees on what job the customer is trying to get done and on the job map.
The team can’t agree on what a customer need is (purpose, structure, format, content).
There is cross-functional agreement on what a need is.
The team believes customers have latent needs and needs they can’t articulate.
The team recognizes that customers can articulate their needs when they are defined around the Job-to-be-Done.
While the organization may collectively know most of the customer’s needs, there is no agreed-upon list.
There is a single, agreed-upon list of customer needs that is shared across functions.
Upon completion of Phase I, the product team will share a common language of innovation and possess a unique set of customer insights (a job map and a set of desired-outcome statements) that it can use to make customer-centric marketing and development decisions. Because the job and customer outcomes are stable over time, these qualitative insights are an indispensible, long-term guide to success at innovation.
PHASE II: DISCOVER HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES IN YOUR MARKET
Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice Page 12