EP052: Karen Dillon & Competing Against Luck

Journalist, author, and speaker, Karen Dillon is a former editor of Harvard Business Review Magazine, and the former Deputy Editor of Inc. Magazine. She recently co-authored Competing Against Luck with Clay Christensen. 

Using the Jobs to Be Done framework, Karen Dillon and her co-authors help businesses understand what causes customers to "hire" a product or service. With that understanding, a business can improve its innovation track record, creating products that customers really want. Jobs theory offers new hope for growth to companies frustrated by their hit and miss efforts

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:11] Karen Dillon defines Clay Christensen's Theory of Disruption using a real-world example.

[8:02] Can an incumbent company’s actions be predicted when faced with a threat from an entry-level rival?

[15:57] Karen explains why "likelihood to purchase" is still so unpredictable, even with today's plethora of customer knowledge and data gathering tools.

[19:42] Customers make choices based on the Jobs to Be Done in their lives.

[21:08] Karen Dillon outlines three dimensions of the Jobs to Be Done framework.

[27:03] Trigger events often occur before a customer makes an actual decision to buy.

[34:39] The Jobs to Be Done Interview is used to identify a customer’s trigger event.

[40:58] Karen Dillon provides a tip for marketers who sell business-to-business.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Competing Against Luck

Jobs to Be Done

Karen Dillon

@KarDillon on Twitter

@ClayChristensen on Twitter

Praxent

@PraxentSoftware on Twitter