The Jobs to be Done Theory and Collaboration with Clayton Christensen

Bob Mester discusses his collaboration with Clayton Christensen on The Jobs to be Done Theory, which focuses on understanding why people hire products and services to make progress in their lives. Mester shares his first impressions of Christensen and highlights Christensen's humility and curiosity as key attributes that made him a powerful thinker and teacher. The discussion delves into the relevance and importance of demand side sales, uncovering customer's struggling moments, and making trade-offs to help customers make progress. Mester also introduces the five skills of an innovator: empathetic perspective, causal structures, uncovering demand, prototyping to learn, and making trade-offs. He emphasizes the importance of context and contrast in creating value and meaning. Throughout the conversation, Mester provides examples and insights from his own experiences as an entrepreneur, consultant, and lecturer.