Competing Against Luck - Post 4/6 (Based on Chapter 6)
Applying for the Right Job
If the job description isn't crystal clear to everyone involved, and the résumé fails to capture the candidate's true potential, valuable opportunities are bound to slip away. Unless pure luck or an experienced decision-maker steps in, that is.
Consider Harrison Ford. He was a struggling actor and part-time carpenter. Ironically, he wasn’t even auditioning for a role when he caught his big break. In 1975, George Lucas was casting Star Wars and had Ford, who had done minor roles, read lines to help test actors for parts like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. Ford wasn’t formally auditioning—he was just a stand-in reader. But his natural charisma and sarcastic delivery impressed Lucas, who offered him the role of Han Solo, originally intended for someone else. Ford’s portrayal of the interstellar smuggler became iconic, launching him into superstardom with roles in Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, and beyond. Han Solo’s swagger defined Ford’s career, all from a role he didn’t even try out for.
Could you imagine the movie industry without an icon like Harrsion Ford? It’s a good thing George Lucas knew the “job description” and, despite the fact that Ford didn’t knowingly submit his “résumé”, Lucas saw enough to know that Ford could do the job!
For most of us, though, that’s not how it works!
When was the last time you applied for a job? As an applicant, you likely filtered through dozens of postings, looking for the one with the right job description. If you were the hiring manager, you probably weeded out hundreds of résumés that didn't align with what you needed. It's "Hiring 101": create a clear job description to attract the right candidates.
Similarly, it’s “Applying 101” to create a résumé that highlights why you're the perfect fit. Today, we're going to apply this same logic to our products. We'll learn how to write a product’s "job description" so we can build a compelling "résumé" that gets our product hired.
What Is Job Mapping?
Before we can build a great résumé, we need a clear job description. Chapter 6 shows us how to do this by mapping a customer's job into a series of steps. Think of a possible job description that might be "streamline form data collection." We can break this down into a sequence: define needs, gather data, validate, and submit. By analyzing each step, we can uncover a customer’s pain points and find opportunities for innovation.
This process is like using the 5 Whys to find the root cause of a problem. It helps us build a Purpose Brand—a product that is known as the go-to solution for a specific job, much like IKEA is known for affordable, stylish furnishings. By focusing on these critical steps, we avoid the trap of feature parity and concentrate on the vital 20% of effort that delivers 80% of the value.
A Real-World Example
A great job map reveals what customers truly need. Consider the job of "furnishing an apartment quickly and affordably." A job map for this would include steps like finding a store, transporting furniture, and assembly. IKEA's product résumé is perfectly aligned to this job, providing everything in one location with flat-packed boxes for easy transport.
However, if the job is different—say, "furnish an apartment with unique, high-quality pieces over a long period"—IKEA isn't the right fit. This shows that understanding the specific job is more important than having a long list of features.
For a product like Vasion Forms, let’s map the job of "streamline form data collection":
- Define: Identify the required fields.
- Gather: Collect data from users.
- Validate: Ensure data accuracy.
- Submit: Send for processing.
By asking "Why is validation slow?" we can uncover the pain point: "Manual checks take time and cost the company money." Using the 5 Whys, we can see the progression:
- “Why is validation slow?” → “Manual checks take time.”
- “Why?” → “Users fear errors.”
- “Why?” → “Re-entry or corrections are required”
- “Why?” → “Time and effort wasted.”
- “Why?” → “Manual entry and correction is time-consuming and costly.”
This insight can guide us to innovate by creating automated validation features that directly solve this problem, building a stronger product résumé for the customer’s job.
Try This Out
Mapping these forces is a powerful exercise for any team. Here’s a way to start:
- Action Item: Pick a product feature or a known customer pain point. Identify the context of the situation.
- Ask: What are the push and pull forces at play? What are the biggest sources of anxiety or habit that might prevent a customer from switching?
- Brainstorm: Think of one way to amplify a pull force or reduce an anxiety barrier. For example, a simplified form setup can directly ease a user’s anxiety.
This helps product managers create compelling features and engineers reduce adoption hurdles, focusing on the vital 20% that delivers 80% of the value.
What's Next?
We've explored how customers hire products (Post 1), how context reveals jobs (Post 2), why they choose solutions (Post 3), and now, how to map jobs to innovate (Post 4). Next week, we'll look at how to align our teams around these jobs.
Bringing it Home
The idea of a "job description" isn't just for products—it can apply to our personal goals. You don't just "get in shape." You "hire" a gym routine to "feel more energetic" (emotional) and "be able to keep up with your kids" (functional). You "hire" a budget to "feel a sense of control" (emotional) over your finances.
By clearly defining the job you want to get done in your personal life, you can create a more effective plan to achieve it. By understanding the job descriptions in your relationships, you can build or highlight aspects of your “résumé” to be the solution your community and loved-ones require.
This focus allows you to filter out distractions and focus on the actions that truly move you closer to your goals. The more we understand these jobs, the more effective we’ll be in our work, our relationships and our personal lives, helping to make our own, and others' lives better, as we keep Aiming Up!
