Section 2 Overview

This section provides the foundationals for the entire Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) process. Before you can uncover unmet needs, you must first define the market correctly. These two chapters guide you through the critical first steps of establishing a stable and accurate target for your innovation efforts.

In Chapter 3, "Defining your market around the Job-to-be-Done," you'll learn to shift your perspective away from product categories and technologies. Instead, you'll define your market based on the stable, underlying job customers are trying to accomplish. This chapter teaches you how to deconstruct the stakeholder ecosystem by clearly identifying the three critical roles: the Job Executor, the Product Lifecycle Support Team, and the Purchase Decision Maker. You'll learn why focusing on the Job Executor is paramount for core product innovation and how to strategically prioritize your efforts, especially in complex scenarios like platform businesses.

With the "who" clearly identified, Chapter 4, "Identifying the Core Job," addresses the "what." Here, you'll master the art of articulating a precise, solution-agnostic, core functional job. This chapter introduces the concept of job hierarchies and teaches you how to select the right level of abstraction for your research—whether you're aiming for incremental improvements or exploring entirely new market opportunities. You'll also learn a practical, three-step process for narrowing down the primary job to focus on when your product serves multiple functions, ensuring your research is scoped for maximum impact and relevance to your key stakeholders.

By the end of this section, you will have a clearly defined market, a primary customer to target, and a well-articulated core job, setting the stage for the in-depth needs discovery that follows.