Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice (Summary)
Why do commuters buy milkshakes for their morning drive? It’s not for the taste. After studying them, researchers found the real reason: a milkshake is thick enough to last a 20-minute commute, simple enough to consume with one hand, and substantial enough to stave off hunger until noon. People weren't buying a drink; they were 'hiring' the milkshake to do a specific 'job': make their boring commute more interesting and manageable.
Your True Competitors Aren't Who You Think
When you focus on the 'job' a customer is trying to do, you realize your competition isn't just similar products. It's anything a customer could use to solve their problem, even if it seems completely unrelated.
For Netflix, a primary competitor isn't just another streaming service like Disney+. It's a bottle of wine, a good book, or an early night's sleep. All of these can be 'hired' for the same 'job': unwinding and de-stressing at the end of a long day.
Focus on the Struggle, Not the Customer
Innovation opportunities are found in the 'struggling moments' where a customer's current solution is inadequate. Don't build customer personas; build 'job stories' that capture the context and desired outcome of that struggle.
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) experienced explosive growth by focusing on the 'job' of busy, working adults. These students weren't 'hiring' a university for the campus life, but to advance their careers. SNHU tailored its entire online program to this job, offering flexibility, support, and a clear path to a better job, ignoring the traditional university model.
Features Don't Sell, Progress Does
Customers are loyal to getting a job done, not to your product's features. A 'job' has functional, social, and emotional dimensions. Successful products address all three, helping the customer become a better version of themselves.
Parents don't buy a minivan because of its sliding doors or cup holders (functional). They 'hire' it to feel like a competent, organized, and safe parent who has everything under control (emotional) and can handle the chaos of family life (social).
Data Can Deceive; Stories Reveal
Big data can tell you what happened, but it can't tell you why. To uncover the 'job,' you must become a detective, piecing together stories from customer interviews and observations to understand the causal mechanism behind their choice.
The creators of QuickBooks didn't rely on surveys. They visited small business owners and watched them struggle with spreadsheets and shoeboxes of receipts. The 'job' wasn't 'to do accounting,' but 'to feel in control of my business so I can get back to doing what I love.' The software was then designed to provide that feeling of control and confidence, not just to be a better ledger.
