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.

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Key Takeaways:

[1:11] Karen Dillon defines Clay Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation 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.