When we look at something in detail it’s often hard to understand what is really going on behind the scenes. This is particularly true when exploring complex ideas such as business transformation. I’m finding that pictures (rough sketches) help me start to make sense, and visualising networks of ideas take me further. We need to… Read More Exploring and visualising systems with Polinode

Jobs to be Done continues to play a part in almost every training engagement and piece of client work that I do.  The simplicity of the idea that we can find opportunities for (digital) innovation and transformation by focusing on the customer needs and motivations instead of trying to improve the product, remains attractive (and… Read More The Jobs to be Done Wheel of Progress

Over the past ten years I have been running workshops for large and small companies in many industries including retail, banking, telecoms and education. I’ve seen a change from a general interest in learning more about the possible impacts and opportunities of digital technologies to an urgency to transform businesses in the face of what… Read More Start making small changes towards digital business transformation

I love all the tools around Jobs to be done and yesterday used one of them in a workshop focussing on how understanding consumer motivations provides us with opportunities to innovate.  This tool is called the “hiring statement” and looks like this: I’m hiring X (a solution) to get A,B and C done (functional, emotional… Read More Using JTBD hiring statements to help people learn about customers

I like making lists (and they sometimes turn into cards) to help people explore lots of different ways of solving a problem or thinking about a topic. Today, I wanted to share a list of my consumer expectations around digital marketing and customer service.  Use as a checklist to evaluate your own experiences, those offered… Read More A long list of ways you can improve your customer experience and digital marketing

Yesterday I was invited to the launch of Linde Gas’s Asia Digitisation Hub here in Singapore  . Before this week, my knowledge of industrial gases was probably limited to the fizz in a bottle of San Pellegrino and their needs to digitise their company would have been a bit of a mystery. Linde is the… Read More Step out of your own industry to find new ways to transform yourself digitally

At the end of 2017 I was involved with one of the most interesting learning projects I have ever designed and run. As part of Hyper Island in Singapore we were working for Axiata, a telco client based in Malaysia but with businesses across South East Asia.  The challenge was to engage up to 12,000… Read More Using AI chatbots to power a digital learning jam

A few years ago I invented a game, a bit like Charades,  based on IMDB’s wonderful Parent’s Guides. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has invented it but I cannot find any other rules online.  I call it Mild Peril and it is perfect for car journeys. I played it last month with… Read More Mild Peril: a game based on IMDB’s Parents Guides

We’re pleased to announce that a German translation of our JTBD cards is now available from us. They have been translated by Eckhart Boehme from Mainz, Germany and we’re grateful for all the hard work he has put in.  They look and feel just as good in German as they do in English and we’re… Read More JTBD-Karten: German version of JTBD Cards now available

Google Trends is great if you want to see whether your brand is doing better than your main competitor and to see how interest in your products, brands or “digital reason to be” varies over time. It becomes a little harder to use when you are conducting a full industry survey as there is a… Read More How do you compare large numbers of items in Google Trends?