---
title: Anthony W. Ulwick
type: entity
tags: [jtbd, odi, strategyn, innovation, customer-needs]
sources:
  - "[[sources/2009-ulwick-what-is-odi]]"
created: 2026-04-20
updated: 2026-04-20
---

# Anthony W. (Tony) Ulwick

**Founder and CEO of Strategyn**; creator of **Outcome-Driven Innovation® (ODI)**. Ex-IBM, developed the ODI methodology from ~1990 onward — predating Christensen's public JTBD writing by roughly a decade. Ulwick asserts that the "job is the unit of analysis" insight was his in the mid-1990s ([[sources/2009-ulwick-what-is-odi]], p. 9), later cited by Christensen in HBR Jan 2002 ("Turn Customer Input into Innovation").

## In the wiki

- [[sources/2009-ulwick-what-is-odi]] — Strategyn whitepaper "What is Outcome-Driven Innovation?"
- [[concepts/outcome-driven-innovation]] — the method itself.
- [[frameworks/jtbd]] — ODI as the quantitative strand of JTBD.

## Key publications

- "Turn Customer Input into Innovation", *Harvard Business Review*, January 2002 — introduced the **Opportunity Algorithm**.
- *What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services* (McGraw-Hill, 2005).
- "The Customer-Centered Innovation Map" (with Lance Bettencourt), *HBR*, May 2008 — introduced the **Universal Job Map**.
- "Giving Customers a Fair Hearing", *Sloan Management Review*, Spring 2008 — desired-outcome statement rules.
- *Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice* (2016) — Ulwick's own JTBD book.

## Signature constructs

- **Job as unit of analysis** (mid-1990s).
- **Universal Job Map** — 8 steps (Define → Locate → Prepare → Confirm → Execute → Monitor → Modify → Conclude).
- **Desired-outcome statement syntax** — strict 5-element template.
- **Opportunity Algorithm** — Importance + max(Importance − Satisfaction, 0).
- **Consumption Chain Jobs** — 12 peripheral jobs around the core.

## Contrast with Christensen

| Dimension | Ulwick / ODI | Christensen / narrative JTBD |
|---|---|---|
| Style | Quantitative, metric-based, deterministic | Narrative, story-based, emotionally rich |
| Data collection | Structured surveys with importance/satisfaction ratings | Buyer timeline interviews, "struggling moment" probes |
| Output | 50–150 ranked desired outcomes | Job statement + forces-of-progress model |
| Claims | Reproducibility, 86% success rate | Explanatory depth, competitive insight |
| BPM affinity | Very high (Ulwick literally equates functional jobs with processes) | Medium (the "aligning processes" section in 2016 HBR) |

## Related

- [[entities/clayton-christensen]] · [[frameworks/jtbd]] · [[concepts/outcome-driven-innovation]]
- Lance Bettencourt — co-author on HBR 2008 "Customer-Centered Innovation Map" *(referenced-not-ingested)*.