Insights from ‘Competing Against Luck’ by Clayton Christensen Flashcards
What question should companies ask to innovate effectively?
They should ask, ‘What job are my customers hiring this product to do?’ instead of ‘How can I get more people to buy my product?’
True or False: Most innovations fail because they ask the right questions.
False
What is the ‘Jobs to be Done’ theory in one sentence?
It states that all products are services promising a better experience for the person ‘hiring’ them.
Why do many companies waste money on innovations that don’t lead to sales?
They rely on luck and fail to understand what customers actually want or need from a product.
Which key emotional factors should companies consider in product design?
Companies should focus on the social and emotional reasons, not just the functional ones, that motivate people to make progress in their lives.
Fill in the blank: Loss aversion is __________ as powerful as the allure of gains.
twice
In the ‘Jobs to be Done’ framework, what mindset should entrepreneurs adopt?
They should think more like psychologists, understanding the progress people want to make in their lives.
What key mistake do many companies make when trying to innovate?
They focus on features and functionality rather than the experiences their product enables.
According to Christensen, why might customers be hesitant to try new products?
New is often intimidating, and people tend to prefer the status quo due to loss aversion.
What is the first step in creating an innovative product according to Christensen?
Identify a job that needs to be done and understand why customers would want to use your product in their lives.
Describe the ‘documentary filmmaker’ approach in product innovation.
It involves tracking the customer’s journey from when they decide to ‘hire’ the product to when they complete the job, observing each step along the way.
Why must a new product experience be ‘twice as good’ as the current experience?
Because customers are anxious about trying something new, and a significantly better experience is needed to overcome this hesitation.
What key statistic highlights executives’ dissatisfaction with innovation?
94 percent of global executives are unsatisfied with their innovation performance.
Fill in the blank: ‘New products succeed because of the ________ they enable.’
experiences
What advice did W. Edwards Deming offer related to asking the right questions?
‘If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.’
