Jobs to Be Done: A Better Way to Understand Customers | Jim Kalbach, Revisited

Most companies obsess over products, but Jim Kalbach believes they're asking the wrong question. Customers don't buy products because of what they are. They "hire" them to make progress in their lives. Jobs to Be Done is a way of uncovering that progress, helping organizations stop guessing what people want and start understanding twhat people are really trying to accomplish. In this revisited episode, Dart and Jim discuss how Jobs to Be Done helps organizations uncover unmet customer needs, align teams around real problems, and apply the framework to innovation, hiring, and finding the right work for people.

Jim Kalbach is an author, speaker, and instructor in innovation, design, and the future of work. He is the Chief Evangelist at Mural and Co-Founder and Principal of the JTBD Toolkit, where he helps organizations apply Jobs to Be Done to innovation, product strategy, and customer experience.

In this episode, Dart and Jim discuss:
- Why customers "hire" products
- Finding unmet customer needs
- Solving problems, not building features
- Using JTBD to drive innovation
- Matching people to the right work
- Understanding customer circumstances
- A shared language for teams
- Mindset before methodology
- And other topics…

Jim Kalbach is the Chief Evangelist at Mural and Co-Founder and Principal of the JTBD Toolkit, where he helps organizations apply Jobs to Be Done to innovation, product strategy, and customer experience. He is the author of Designing Web Navigation, Mapping Experiences, and The Jobs to Be Done Playbook, and co-author of Collaborative Intelligence. Before joining Mural, Jim worked in design and innovation consulting with organizations including eBay, Sony, IBM, EY, LexisNexis, and Citrix.

Resources Mentioned:
The Jobs to Be Done Playbook, by Jim Kalbach: https://www.amazon.com/Jobs-Be-Done-Playbook-Organization/dp/1933820683
Mapping Experiences, by Jim Kalbach: https://www.amazon.com/Mapping-Experiences-Complete-Creating-Blueprints/dp/1491923539
JTBD Toolkit: https://www.jtbdtoolkit.com/
The Experience Economy, by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore: https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Economy-Competing-Customer-Time/dp/1633697975

Connect with Jim:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalbach/
JTBD Toolkit: https://www.jtbdtoolkit.com/

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.