"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." My grandmother used to reassure me using this quote when I was growing up. When things seemed so big that I couldn't possibly make a difference she reminded me that, if the goal was meaningful, making progress (however small) was a win for the right side. This concept stuck with me through my life and I've been able to pass it along to some of my clients.
It's no secret that Hostile Sheep heavily uses Jobs to be Done (JTBD) and has been using it for a really long time. Some of our clients have asked us how to shift their organizations thinking to make better use of the work we've done with them; they wanted us to help them usher change throughout their organization by helping them become more customer centric. In many cases, our friends tried to take our thinking and apply it at a high-level across their organization.
It's not that they weren't equipped with the right information. They were able to sell the JTBD concept to everyone and got their whole team excited. The problem wasn't a willingness to become more customer centric, it was being able to understand the whole process step-by-step and understanding what kinds of outcomes they could expect. Our friends were trying to boil the ocean, which is a near-impossible task.
Changing a company mindset usually can't be done all at once. What we've found (through years of trial and error) is that the best method to usher change through an organization is by designing a test-case.
A test case looks at a single initiative (or project) that starts in a typical way. It's important to choose the right test case; avoiding anomalous cases that would make it more difficult for the organization to adapt and use as a template for later adoption. With a JTBD initiative, we typically start by identifying the ideal customer profile (ICP) and the associated core-job the executor wants to do. These are key steps that set any initiative up for success. The result of these steps are clear outcomes and a clear path to uncover tasks, pains, and gains.
The test case needs to be as small as possible while demonstrating all of the key steps required to move from inception to implementation. It could, for instance, focus on a single ICP with a single job. It may use a product that's managed by a single line of business, or it could touch on multiple products within a system that's managed by multiple lines of business.
The test case will gain "advocates" and "skeptics" as it moves through the organization. In an ideal scenario, skeptics will have a chance to voice concerns once key results (KRs) begin coming in. Key results will help prove or disprove whether the case was successful.
There are risks associated with using a test case to usher change though an organization, however, we've found that these risks can be mitigated and planned for. It was only through trial and error that we were able to uncover all of the potential risks we've identified so far; and there's always the chance that undiscovered risks will pop-up. But that's life. If it's worth doing, a journey of a thousand miles can begin with a single step. Make the most of the step you take.