Apr 29, 2021
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) in Purpose Statements
While scrolling through a number of lists outlining the ‘purpose’, ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ of organisations, I spotted a pattern – some of them reference all three types of jobs from the "Jobs To Be Done" (JTBD) framework: Functional, Consumption and Emotional/Social jobs.
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a powerful framework for developing products and understanding both the customer’s specific goal, or “job,” and the thought processes that would lead customers to “hire” a product in order to complete jobs successfully.
Here’s how the three jobs are defined according to the JTBD framework:
Functional job - This is defined as the underlying process that the job executor is attempting to undertake and complete in a given situation. The goal of any product is to help get a core functional job done better, faster and more cheaply than competing solutions.
Consumption job - They are what a customer has to undertake to utilise a solution. For example, if you are trying to buy a new t-shirt online, to use Amazon as a solution, you will have to interact with the website or the app. This interaction is referred to as a consumption job.
Emotional/Social job - Emotional jobs define how customers want to feel or avoid feeling as a result of executing the core functional job. Social jobs define how the customer wishes to be perceived by others.
Let’s take a look at a few examples.
To connect the world’s professionals and make them more productive and successful
| Job | Keywords |
| Functional | Productive |
| Consumption | Connect |
| Emotional/Social | Successful (professionals) |
Spotify
We envision a cultural platform where professional creators can break free of their medium’s constraints and where everyone can enjoy an immersive artistic experience that enables us to empathize with each other and to feel part of a greater whole.
| Job | Keywords |
| Functional | Creators can break free Everyone can enjoy |
| Consumption | Cultural platform |
| Emotional/Social | Everyone can enjoy Empathize with each other Feel part of a greater whole |
Innocent
Make natural, delicious food and drink that helps people live well and die old
| Job | Keywords |
| Functional | Die old |
| Consumption | Food and drink |
| Emotional/Social | Live well |
People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.
| Job | Keywords |
| Functional | Stay connected |
| Consumption | Use Facebook |
| Emotional/Social | Express what matters |
Zoom
Video communications empowering people to accomplish more
| Job | Keywords |
| Functional | Accomplish more |
| Consumption | Video communications |
| Emotional/Social | Feeling empowered |
Amazon
To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
Amazon's statement is missing a reference to the emotional job. Perhaps, "where customers can find, discover, and enjoy anything they might want to buy online" might sound better
| Job | Keywords |
| Functional | Want to buy online |
| Consumption | Find and discover |
| Emotional/Social | - |
How about your company’s purpose, vision or mission? Can you identify and list references to all three jobs for your organisation?