About the Author

Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In addition to his most recent book, How Will You Measure Your Life, he is the author of seven critically-acclaimed books, including several New York Times bestsellers — The Innovator''s Dilemma, The Innovator''s Solution and most recently, Disrupting Class. Christensen is the co-founder of Innosight, a management consultancy; Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm; and the Innosight Institute, a non-profit think tank. In 2011, he was named the world’s most influential business thinker by Thinkers50.A native of Australia, James Allworth is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he was named a Baker Scholar, and the Australian National University. He writes regularly for the Harvard Business Review. He has previously worked at Booz & Company, and Apple.Karen Dillon was Editor of the Harvard Business Review until 2011. She previously served as deputy editor of Inc magazine and was editor and publisher of the critically-acclaimed American Lawyer magazine. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. In 2011, she was named by Ashoka as one of the world’s most influential and inspiring women.

Reviews

This game-changing book is filled with compelling real world examples, including from inside Intuit. Jobs Theory has had --and will continue to have ---a profound influence on Intuit's approach to innovation. It just might change yours, too. -- Scott Cook, Co-founder & Chairman of Intuit Clayton Christensen's books on innovation are mandatory reading at Netflix. -- Reed Hastings, Co-founder and CEO of Netflix Competing Against Luck offers fresh thinking on how to get innovation right. Clayton Christensen and his coauthors offer a compelling take on how to truly understand customers by the progress they're seeking to make in their lives. Bravo! -- Muhtar Kent, CEO of The Coca-Cola Company Clay Christensen and his co-authors have presented critical business thinkers and doers with a breakthrough theory that will change how leaders approach innovation by reverse engineering from a high value and focused customer job to be done. I have read it cover to cover--and will ask my top team to do the same. -- Ron Frank, IBM [Competing Against Luck] will likely become part of the thoughtful founder's strategy arsenal. True to its unpretentious name, jobs theory is disarmingly simple... "What job is our customer trying to accomplish?" stands as one of those great business questions that companies deploy to stimulate creative juices at the start of meetings. But Competing Against Luck doesn't just introduce a tool, it also lays out a program. -- Inc. Magazine The Theory of Jobs to Be Done has the essential trait of any good management theory: Once explained, it seems glaringly obvious. -- Philip Delves Broughton, Wall Street Journal In an age of big data and hyper segmentation, Christensen's thinking is refreshing and clarifying. This book will relieve you of tired marketing conversations and invite you into worlds of new and ultimately, defining possibilities. Competing Against Luck is a must read for anyone working on developing or sustaining a distinctive brand. -- Maureen Chiquet, former CEO of Chanel and author of forthcoming Beyond the Label As a long-time fan of Clay Christensen, I was eager to read Competing Against Luck -- and it didn't disappoint. This book has the potential to change the way you view innovation. Engaging and well-written, Christensen and his co-authors caused me to stop and really think about how Khan Academy is growing. I highly recommend it. -- Sal Khan, Founder & CEO, Khan Academy Competing Against Luck is an excellent primer on the both the theory, and on the applications of this theory to many areas of business. A fun and quick read - and a set of ideas that will be useful when you negotiate with vendors or plan your next program. -- Inside Higher Education