Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice

by Clayton M. Christensen

‘Let’s get back to the Job to Be Done. What are our customers hiring us to do?’ We don’t argue about that.”

Distributed decision making: Employees throughout the organization are empowered to make good decisions that align with the job, and to be autonomous and innovative. Resource optimization: The jobs focus shines a light on which resources are aligned against what matters most and which are not, and enables them to be rebalanced accordingly. Inspiration: Solving a customer’s job is inherently inspiring to individuals in an organization, as it enables them to see how their work enables real people to make progress in their lives. Better measurement: With a focus on the job, people will naturally seek to measure and manage to more customer-centric metrics.

What are the most important jobs—or the most important job—your organization exists to solve? How broadly understood are these jobs across your organization? Are they reflected in your mission statement or other key company communications? Do your leaders consistently communicate the centrality of these jobs? How could you embed these jobs in all your leadership communications, your corporate communications, and your culture?