To further comprehend Emotional Friction, we must first grasp its inverse – Emotional Value. The “jobs-to-be-done” hypothesis is one of the strongest frameworks we’ve discovered for understanding emotional worth. Product developer Bob Moesta conceived and defined the jobs-to-be-done thesis, which was later expanded and popularized in the book Competing Against Luck by the late Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor and innovation thought-leader.
The foundational principle is that people “hire” products and services to deliver three basic needs: functional value (e.g., it will save you time), social value (e.g., it will impress your friends), and emotional value (e.g., it will bring you joy).
According to Bob Moesta, “These three dimensions of value are present in each and every decision we make about whether or not to buy or try something new.”
When you buy a new winter jacket, for example, these three values are likely to influence your selection in the following ways:
The utility value. How comfortable and dry you feel when wearing the jacket.
Social value. What others may infer about you based on the design and brand of your jacket (fashion conscious, wealthy, earthy, hipster, etc.).
Emotional value. What you think of yourself when you wear it (and even when you see it hanging in your closet).
his paradigm is not just applicable to products and services. It is applicable to any concept or invention. Consider the educational influence of Covid-19. As the country went into lockdown in the spring of 2020, schools at all levels scrambled to adapt their instruction online. Teachers were forced to move their material and teaching to an online setting almost overnight.
Fortunately, videoconferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams were able to grow up to accommodate the surge of additional demand. However, the functional utility of this new technology was only one element of the jigsaw. The second component, which was significantly more sophisticated and difficult, was getting students and staff comfortable with the notion of engaging online. In this scenario, questions like these establish the dimensions of value for teachers:
The utility value. Do online students learn as well as conventional in-person pupils? Is the technology equipped to accommodate the diverse learning demands of the children in the classroom? Is it simple to use?
Social value. How successfully does it facilitate the interpersonal relationships desired by students and teachers? How does its utilization affect how teachers look to students and peers? Is it possible that completely adopting this technology will make a teacher look tech savvy? Could their reticence make them appear out of step with the times?
Emotional value. How secure or vulnerable do instructors feel when utilizing this new technology? Is this trend making you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of technology? Are teachers being set up for success or failure in their careers?
Jobs-to-be-done The most significant development in philosophy was the recognition that value is complex. But, just as emotion may drive a person’s decision to welcome a new concept, it can equally drive us to reject change.