When people think about their competitors they tend to look at what’s closest to home. If I run a pizza slice store, and you run a McDonalds, we must be competitors, right? But real competition is usually a playing field away. Jobs-to-be-Done gives you a much better lens to think about your true competitors. It gives you the situational context that triggers people to use products. To use the above example, if I know my customers are choosing my pizza because they only have five minutes to spare, and need to eat while walking to a meeting, then I know my competitor isn’t McDonalds. I’m really competing with a Snickers bar and the hot dog cart around the corner. When you’re blinded by thinking your competitors only exist in the exact same tool catego- ry you’re in, disruption or destruction will come from oblique angles. The newspaper industry thought they were in the business of selling news printed on paper. Had they realized their business was “keep people entertained”, or “keep people in the know”, their new competitors like mobile games, Twitter, and Facebook would have been a more obvious threat. So when you’re thinking about competitors, it’s best to ignore product categories and instead ask yourself who else is fighting for that same job. • • • Sometimes your customers really want to use your feature or product, but they also want some- thing else that simply isn’t compatible with it. People really want to be slim and healthy, but they also really want soft drinks and fast food. McDonalds and Weight Watchers are selling wildly different products, but they’re competing for the same customers. This is what we call indirect competition. Note this is different to competing on outcomes. Video conferencing and business class flights compete on outcomes, as they’re both hired for the same job – business meetings. 11