Anthony W. Ulwick

Nothing is left to chance. Or luck.

Applying the Outcome-Driven Innovation process changes everything. It enables a company to:

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  Discover hidden opportunities.
  
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  Formulate market and product strategies that will undermine established leaders.
  
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  Mitigate the risk of failure.
  
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  Create what customers want.
  
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  Predict what new products will win in the marketplace.
  
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  Discover new markets.
  

With its 86 percent success rate, that is the power of the ODI process.

8.
THE LANGUAGE OF JOBS-TO-BE-DONE

A common language of innovation has the power to unite an organization in its effort to build a competency in innovation. The introduction of Jobs Theory presents companies with an opportunity to redefine the language of innovation from the customer’s perspective; and an opportunity to understand and discuss innovation by seeing it through a new lens. These are the terms we use to define the concepts that comprise Jobs Theory and Outcome- Driven Innovation.

Brainstorming – An unbounded method of idea generation that encourages the creation of hundreds of ideas.


Business model canvas – A strategic management and entrepreneurial tool created by Alexander Osterwalder and Strategyzer that helps companies describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot their business model.


Consumption chain jobs – The jobs that the product lifecycle support team must get done throughout the product lifecycle. These jobs include installation, set up, and storing, transporting, maintaining, repairing, cleaning, upgrading, and disposing of the product.


Creativity – The mental process by which an idea is triggered and conceived.
Customer – A constituent for whom the company chooses to create value. Key customers include the end user (the functional job executor), the purchase decision maker (buyer), and the product lifecycle support team (people who install, maintain, and repair the offering).


Customer need – A metric that customers use to measure the successful execution of a functional job or a consumption chain job. Synonymous with desired outcome.