Understand Customer Needs
The second step in Outcome-Driven Innovation is to understand all the customer needs. We discovered that for every job, customers use a set of metrics to judge whether or not they can execute each step in the job with the speed, stability, and output they desire. We call these metrics outcomes (thus the name Outcome-Driven Innovation). Jobs and outcomes are critically important because together they are the customer needs.
Like jobs, outcomes are defined independent of any solution. Outcome statements (written versions of the customers' desired outcomes) are structured with a direction of improvement (minimize or increase), a metric (e.g., time, likelihood, number), and an object of control. This rigorous structure enables the precise and unambiguous quantification of what the customer needs to accomplish in order to execute the job successfully.
For example, in order to manage networks, IT managers need to minimize the likelihood that an upgrade causes problems with existing files. In order to make a straight cut, carpenters need to increase the likelihood that the blade will begin cutting precisely on the cut line. And in order to open an artery, cardiologists need to minimize the number of side vessels that are inadvertently entered.
Most jobs consist of 8 to 12 steps, and most customers consider 6 to 12 outcomes in judging the successful execution of each step. As a result, every job consists of approximately 50 to 150 different customer needs. We know this is universally true because we have analyzed thousands of different jobs in almost every type of market – whether medical devices or manufacturing, software or consumer products, telecom or financial services. It means that markets and customer needs are far more complex than traditionally thought.
The discovery of jobs and outcomes also proved that there is no such thing as a latent need. With the right techniques, it is possible to uncover all the customer needs (even those that may be unvoiced or unarticulated) in any market, even those for which no products exist. With a solid understanding of jobs and outcomes, we have the inputs we need to make innovation successful. But how do we know when there is an opportunity to generate new revenue?
