Jobs-to-be-Done is a powerful mindset for product development. As I continue to develop my expertise on jobs-to-be-done, I’m curating this list of resources. I hope you find it useful to jumpstart your knowledge on the topic.
Reach out to me if you have suggestions to add to this page or if you just want to talk about JTBD. Applying these concepts to product thinking and decision making is something that energizes me, if it energizes you too then it would be fun to connect and chat more.
Note: Book or product links on this page may be affiliate links for which I may make a small commission. Thank you for your support.
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My interview with Bob Moesta on SEP’s Behind the Product Podcast
sep.com/podcast/bob-moesta
Bob Moesta’s Books
These books by Bob Moesta will build your skills as an innovator, product manager, and salesman. All of Bob’s work is excellent but these are approachable to people new to Bob and JTBD ideas. They will give you a compact intro to get your started, then you can use the other resources on this page to dive in further.
Learning to Build: The 5 Bedrock Skills of Innovators and Entrepreneurs
If you want to improve your overall skillset for innovation
this book will give you the mental model that you need to build your skills. This book goes way beyond JTBD. Jobs is just one tool. If you know about JTBD and want to multiply your impact you should pick up this book.
Tips:
– I’d recommend flipping to the Conclusion and reading the first page or two about the jobs the book is targeting. It will help frame your thinking on what job matches you while you read.
– When I talked to Bob about the book he mentioned that he spent a lot of time on the visuals in the book. Give yourself time to study them, they aren’t just pretty pictures, they add to and expand on the meaning of the text.
Demand-Side Sales 101: Stop Selling and Help Your Customers Make Progress
This book leans heavier on Jobs and the Switch methods but is framed in a sales context. One of the core ideas of this book is that sales is helping people and to help them you need to understand their story. Jobs helps you build that narrative and gives you skills to reveal root causes.
Jobs-to-be-Done The Handbook
by Chris Spiek & Bob Moesta
This is a very short book that is more focused on the tactical of running switch interviews.
Books on Jobs-to-be-Done
The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
by Rob Fitzpatrick
If you are new to JTBD this is the book I’d recommend starting with to get your mind in the right starting point and getting started with tactics you can apply immediately.
While this book is not directly about JTBD, a critical part of using JTBD for building products is knowing how to talk to people to uncover demand and understand what has caused them to have a need or to take action.
This book is very short and excellent for teaching you how to ask good questions that help you dig for causality. A few ideas from this book align to the core to the JTBD mindset: 1. Ask about the past instead of the future and 2. Ask for story and context removed from your own agenda.
Competing Against Luck : The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice
by Clayton M. Christensen, David S. Duncan, Karen Dillon and Taddy Hall
Intercom on Jobs-to-be-Done
by Intercom
- https://www.innosight.com/insight/competing-against-luck/
- To Win Loyal Customers, You Need to Master ‘Jobs Theory’
- Article with an overview of the book on Inc.
Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice
by Anthony (Tony) Ulwick
https://strategyn.com
Videos
The Explainer: Marketing Myopia
Theodore Levitt’s classic theory — in under two minutes. For more, read “Marketing Myopia.”
Understanding the Job (The Milkshake Story)
Bob Moesta and Chris Spiek – Uncovering the Jobs to Be Done
Summit 2105: Chris Spiek
Chris Spiek @ Industry 2015
These two talks are very similar. The Industry 2015 talk has a few extra slides at the end, one good one related to mapping the energy of the story.
Episode 1: Feature requests aren’t demand
Eric White & Alan Klement “Designing for Prosthetic Gods” | UXRiga 2017
Clayton Christensen – Decentralization is disruptive and hard to catch – Business of Software 2011
PROFESSOR CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN AT BUSINESS OF SOFTWARE 2011: THE JOB YOUR PRODUCT DOES
http://businessofsoftware.org/2012/02/professor-clayton-christensen-at-business-of-software-2011-the-job-your-product-does/
Competing Against Luck – Clayton Christensen, Karen Dillon and Taddy Hall
Des Traynor, Intercom at Business of Software Conference 2013 – Product Strategy is About Saying No
Entrepreneurship Educators Forum: Primary Market Research
Bob’s talk starts at around the 54 minute mark
Customer Job Metrics
Alan Klement
Mega Wednesday – 005 – JTBD with Alan Klement
Mega Wednesday – 006 – Jobs to be Done
Alan Klement – Evaluating a JTBD vs Evaluating a product for that JTBD.
JTBD for freelancers with Alan Klement
Summary on http://robertallenwilliams.com/alan/
Practical Service Design Webinar: Intro to Jobs to Be Done with Jim Kalbach
Slides: https://www.slideshare.net/Kalbach/jobs-to-be-done
Jobs to be Done: from Doubter to Believer by Sian Townsend at Front 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Jobs to be Done: from Doubter to Believer by Sian Townsend at Front 2016 in Salt Lake City
Sian Townsend’s talk “Jobs To Be Done – From Doubter to Believer” at UX London 2017
If you build it, will they come? by David Oldham at Front 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Talks about JTBD around 21 minutes in
Inventing with jobs to be done – Jillian Wells at UX Brighton 2016
Slides: Jobs to Be Done JTBD – Jillian Wells
The Jobs To Be Done Framework Used By Intercom, Pipedrive & Basecamp To Create Irresistible Products
How To Use The Jobs To Be Done Framework To Create Irresistible Products
Jobs to be done intro & screening – Can we find our job?
(This link is for a multiple video playlist on JTBD interviews at Basecamp)
Matt Hodges on Marketing the Job to be Done
“An Introduction to Modern Product Discovery” by Teresa Torres
Article: Why This Opportunity Solution Tree is Changing the Way Product Teams Work
Outcome Driven Innovation (“ODI)
Turn JTBD Theory Into Practice – Anthony Ulwick @ Business of Software 2014
“Jobs to Be Done” by Tony Ulwick at Lean Product Meetup
Tony Ulwick – Outcome-Driven Innovation for Product Managers (ProductTank San Francisco)
https://www.mindtheproduct.com/2017/01/outcome-driven-innovation-product-managers/
Tony Ulwick – Customer Centered Innovation
Jobs to be Done with Tony Ulwick
Jay Haynes – Building high-growth products using jobs-to-be-done (ProductTank SF)
Podcasts Dedicated to JTBD
The Circuit Breaker Podcast
by Bob Moesta and Greg Engle
Jobs-to-be-Done Radio
by The Re-Wired Group (Bob Moesta, Chris Spiek, Ervin Fowlkes)
https://soundcloud.com/jobstobedone
Demand Thinking
New perspectives for designers and product managers
by Ryan Singer and Chris Spiek
Demand Thinking YouTube Channel
Jobs-to-be-Done in 5
by Alan Klement and Eric White
Podcast Episodes with JTBD as the Topic
The Critical Path Radio Show
- 146: Bob Moesta [4/9/2015] – Bob Moesta demonstrates Jobs to be Done interview technique by speaking with Horace about a car purchase.
- 36: An Interview with Clayton Christensen [5/2/2012]: Clay Christensen talks about working with Bob Moesta to create the Jobs-to-be-Done Framework.
- 19: The hiring and firing of milkshakes and candy bars [12/29/2011] The Hiring & Firing of Milkshakes and Candy Bars – Horace Dediu and Bob Moesta
HBR IdeaCast
- The “Jobs to be Done” Theory of Innovation with Clayton Christensen
Full Stack Radio
- DEC 18 2014 · EPISODE 5 Ryan Singer – Jobs-to-be-Done and Product Design
Inside Intercom – https://blog.intercom.com/category/podcast/
This is Product Management
- Jobs to be Done is Product Management
- Karen Dillon – Contributing Editor of Harvard Business Review and co-author of Competing Against Luck
Yours Productly
- Tony Ulwick talks about his book, Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice – his life’s work of 25 years by Yours Productly
- Alan Klement on Jobs to Be Done and his book, When Coffee & Kale Compete by Yours Productly
Rocketship.fm
- Bob Moesta
- Eric White
- A JOB TO BE DONE: BUILDING PRODUCTS PEOPLE WANT (compilation of clips from other jobs to be done episodes on this podcast)
TEI 057: Applying the Jobs-to-be-Done Framework – with Chris Spiek
StratChat Webinar: Testing Before Building Is The Key To Success
by Anthony Ulwick and Alex Osterwalder, June 8th 2017
Related article on jobs-to-be-done.com
Published / Print Articles
Marketing Myopia
by Theodore Levitt
Harvard Business Review – July-August 2004 (Reprint of 1960 article)
Marketing Myopia – Short Explainer Video
Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done”
by Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, David S. Duncan
Harvard Business Review – September 2016
Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure
by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook, Taddy Hall
Harvard Business Review – December 2005
Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers: Understanding the Psychology of New-Product Adoption
by John T. Gourville
Harvard Business Review – June 2006
Finding the Right Job for Your Product
CASE STUDY by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Gerald Berstell, Denise Nitterhouse
http://newfaculty.mst.edu/media/campussupport/newfaculty/documents/2012/FindingRightJobForYourProduct.pdf
Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing
by Carmel Nobel
and by contrast…
Customer Segmentation Is Soured by Milkshake Marketing
by Tony Ulwick
Turn Customer Input Into Innovation
By Anthony Ulwick
Harvard Business Review – January 2002
Prescription for Health Care Cost Reform
by Anthony W. Ulwick, Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman
Harvard Business Review – March 2003
Do You Really Know What Your Customers Are Trying to Get Done?
by Anthony W. Ulwick
Harvard Business Review – March 2003
Lost in Translation
by Anthony W. Ulwick
Harvard Business Review – May 2004
Giving Customers a Fair Hearing
By Lance A. Bettencourt and Anthony W. Ulwick
MIT Sloan Management Review – Spring 2008
The Customer Centered Innovation Map
BY LANCE A. BETTENCOURT AND ANTHONY W. ULWICK
Harvard Business Review – May 2008
Can Bricks and Mortar Compete with On-line Retailing
ODI Case Study
By Tony Ulwick, Founder of Strategyn.and Frank Grillo, Chief Marketing Officer of Harte Hanks
Other Resource Lists or JTBD Topic Collections
JTBD.info
Learn how Customer Jobs (Jobs to be Done) can help you become great at creating and selling products that people will buy
(this site is authored and curated by Alan Klement)
Other Book Lists
Resources That Influence Jobs to be Done and Customer Jobs Theory: Go deeper down the rabbit hole
by Alan Klement (This is Alan’s list of books that have influenced his thinking in JTBD, it’s not a list specifically of JTBD books)