Scientific Definition
Customers hire products to do a job in their life.
Plain-English Definition
Customers hire products to do a job in their life.
Feynman Explanation
Nobody bought the drill. They bought the hole.
Core Principle
Customers hire products to do a job in their life.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Customers hire products to do a job in their life.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Product strategy and innovation.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Nobody bought the drill. They bought the hole.
Examples
- Milkshakes hired for the morning commute.
- Product strategy and innovation.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Interview for jobs, not for features.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Interview for jobs, not for features.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
The rate at which customers (or employees) leave over a period.
The gap between early adopters and the early majority kills most products.
Innovators → early adopters → early majority → late majority → laggards.
Low-end or new-market entrants overtake established incumbents.
Prices driven far above intrinsic value by feedback loops of belief and behavior.
Asset prices fully reflect available information; you can't reliably beat the market.
Doing everything right by current customers can kill you.
Aggregating many niche markets equals or exceeds the mainstream.
Beliefs about reality shape the reality.
Technologies grow slowly, then explode, then plateau.
How will I feel about this in 10 minutes / 10 months / 10 years?
Basics first (health/finances), then depth (mastery/impact), then altruism (widening circle).