Continuing on the theme of disruption, I recently was reminded of the late Clayton Christensen’s notion of “the job your product is hired for”. Many engineers that I meet are completely wrapped around the product that they are responsible for, the features and capabilities, the competing products, the number of customers and so on. We tend to forget that our product is “hired” to do a job for the customer and that the moment a better alternative comes along, customers will move on. In the middle of the 20th century, many moved from horses and public transport solutions to private car ownership as this provided the best product for personal mobility. However, owning a car is a hassle that I would gladly do without if there was a better solution available. Such as, for instance, autonomous vehicles replacing traditional taxis without drivers that I am forced to talk to. I can’t wait for those to be deployed where I live. So, rather than spending all your time on your product, remind yourself of the job that your customer hired your product for and make sure that your product is still the best alternative for that job.