How I Stopped Chasing Outputs and Focused on Meaningful Results That Matter

Perfect output is not the desired outcome.

Imagine spending 18 months building a perfect product, only to find out no one needs it. This was my harsh lesson.

I’ve also seen this as the starting point in 99% of the 75 organizations I’ve worked with. Why so often?

More output does not mean better outcomes, but few believe this. Output is the product of your effort; outcome is the result and impact. Output feeds outcome but doesn’t ensure it.

Organizations I’ve worked with often find it helpful to imagine a race where running is your output, and winning is the desired outcome. You can’t win without running, but running is no guarantee for winning.

Also, polishing your beautiful creation won’t guarantee an audience. 

My 18 months of toiling over my product did not win me a user base. And companies I work with also miss the mark like this by relentlessly pursuing output. I see and hear it every day:

• “We need a detailed plan to hit the deadline.”
• “How can we deliver the perfect version of this?”
• “We have a budget, and we need to spend it all.”
• “We need busy people to get value for the salaries we pay.”
  

These statements ignore the fact that outcomes only happen as a result of your output. No amount of care and perfect execution will lock in the outcome you desire.

This obsession with output leads many companies into a ditch.

• Great products but no customers.
• Ample effort and work but little results.
• Reliable delivery to an audience of zero.
• Uninspired teams whose only goal is better, faster, and cheaper.
  

Yet, these dreadful impacts don’t stop us from obsessing over and measuring outputs to death.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve noticed a few reasons for this.

Why do we focus so much on outputs?

Output is easy to measure; outcome is not.

• Outcome is lagging. Output is now.
• Outcome is squishy. Output is tangible.
• Outcome is a guess. Output is in your control.
  

Managers want something to control, and output is an easy target. When I started my management journey, I latched onto output for this very reason.

Outcome was like a mirage, beautiful but out of my control. Output was the water my team took on its journey. I could dictate how much we brought on the journey and ration how much we consumed. Focusing on output was a means of survival I could wrangle.

But without a clear destination, I eventually led my team deep into the desert, lost. And the canteens ran dry.

My Quick Guide on How to Shift Your Focus From Outputs to Outcomes.

I’ve come to believe there’s one universal thing that kills a product: not making something users need.

Yet, I’m not sure why delighting users is so rare. You would think delivering something users need should be easy. But because so few organizations do it, you can tell it must be hard.

No amount of strategy, planning, or perfect execution will matter if your users don’t need what you have built and polished to perfection.

Let that sink in.

I learned this the hard way when I fell in love with building an exquisite product for a customer I’d never talked to. I was chasing that mirage in the desert.

Not only that, I took way too long (18 months) to construct my first large software product that nobody used. It was like a beautiful city on the hill with no inhabitants to fill it. All my users wanted was a nice bed and breakfast for the night. This metaphorical city became a ghost town.

My lesson: meeting user needs is all that actually matters in the end.

This is why we must focus on outcomes. Here are my five simple steps to help you make this shift.

Let’s dive in.

Step 1 – Acknowledge your output obsession.

Reflect on a recent product effort.

Did you measure success by delivering all scope on time or by the delight of your users? If you’re like me and many others, I know the answer. I knew my scope and deadline better than I knew my users when I built my useless city on the hill.

So, assuming you have this behavior too, repeat after me, “I have an output obsession.”

Feel better?

We gravitate to outputs because they’re within our grasp. We can control the effort we put in. But outcomes, not so much.

To change your perspective, you must first know where you start. Then, moving in a new direction becomes easier.

Trust me, I know.

It took my massive 18-month failed city on the hill to convince me I had a problem with output fixation. There is no reason for you to repeat my mistake. Go ahead and admit your soft spot for the lure of outputs.

Act on this fast, so you can move on to focus on outcomes.

Step 2 – Assume you don’t know the answer.

I won’t make you go through another verbal confession, but I remind myself of this daily.

We all need more humility in product work. Hubris doesn’t mix well with it. Nothing is certain or easy when building solutions for users. No user is alike, and every solution is novel.

I had never met my customer for my gorgeous creation on the hill.

Others who didn’t take the humility pill either handed me a set of blueprints to follow. Then, I organized everything and built the perfect city to specification. The result? A massive waste of time and money.

I was confidently wrong.

So, admit you don’t know the right answer. Then, get curious early and often, so you can find it.

Step 3 – Bring your customer as close as possible to your output.

Output without customer input is a losing game.

The traditional way of working would tell you to:

1. Understand user requirements upfront.
2. Design the perfect solution.
3. Build it with high quality.
4. Test it and fix defects.
5. Deploy it to users.
6. ?
   

What is step 6?

The vast majority of the time, you will “Start failure recovery” at step 6. Building a product this way does not meet customer needs because they change. Users are notorious for saying they need something upfront and then not liking it when they see it and use it.

Users are fickle.

My only contact with users in my own grand catastrophe was during failure recovery.

This is not a moment I want to relive. My team worked nights and weekends and lived on free Domino’s Pizza for 3 months. They attempted resuscitation, but the city on the hill was dead on arrival.

The scars still affect my team and me today.

So, involve users before, during, and after your output creation. Take small steps and get feedback. And don’t be afraid to change course if they don’t like where you’re going. A recent team of mine pivoted easily because they followed a user-centered approach. The user pointed out an edge case because they worked alongside us, and it saved us from a costly oversight.

Let users guide your path. This is the only trail that doesn’t lead to you falling off a cliff.

Step 4 – Try several early, crappy bets.

“Most ideas suck, but not mine.”

This goes through all of our heads when we come up with solutions. Our bias kicks in, and we fall in love with our precious ideas. Then, we built an elaborate motorcycle with nitrous oxide propulsion. But our users only needed roller skates.

When we bet big, we lose. It’s what I did with my 18-month bet.

What was step 2 again? Oh, right, “I don’t know the answer.” I should get that tattooed on my arm.

Since we don’t know what will work, our best move is to make many small, simple bets. Small bets are not as painful when you lose. Then, you can double down on the bets that pay off.

And best of all, you can quit on a winning hand. No need to bet against the house and chase a winning bet with reckless add-ons. A saying comes to mind, “Stop when the going gets good.”

You should build and iterate in small, crappy bets to emerge the right path with your customer.

I did this with a team developing a trading system. We built the two versions of the most basic trading flow imaginable. One was a clear winner with our user. So, we focused in on it, enhanced it until good enough, and launched in a month. It was the most successful product in our team’s history.

When your bet hits the mark, refine it until good enough to meet your customer’s needs. Then, stop.

If you ever wondered how to maximize outcomes and minimize output, now you know.

Step 5 – Plan light and reorient after each step.

I’m convinced I can plan with the best out there.

You give me a target and a team to go there, and I’ll give you the most elaborate plan you’ve ever seen. I used to manage fixed-price, fixed-time projects early in my career. So, I know plans.

But the map isn’t the terrain.

Our first four steps leading up to this one don’t mix with detailed planning.

• I know I have an output obsession.
• I don’t know the right answer.
• Users are fickle.
• Most ideas fail.
  

So, why in the world would I create a detailed plan? It’s a good question.

Planning big is a plan to fail. My 18-month plan resulted in a ghost town (cue tumbleweed blowing through a dusty street).

I know better now. Now, I plan light to see the big picture and inform only my next move. I emerge the right path with my user and take small steps. That way, it’s easier to change course. I don’t mind changing after a step if it was a small misstep.

Each step informs the next. It’s micro-planning toward a bigger goal. Think big, plan and act small.

Respond to the terrain, and don’t let detailed maps lead you astray.

Remember, perfect output is not the desired outcome

Outcome over output is easy to say, but hard in practice. Yet, the benefits are worth the effort.

And you can make solid progress just by starting to follow the 5 steps in this article.

• Step 1: Admit your output obsession (most of us have it).
• Step 2: Be humble (you really don’t know).
• Step 3: Embrace your customer.
• Step 4: Make many small bets.
• Step 5: Plan light, and pivot quick.
  

That’s it.

Make outcomes your obsession. You’ll find you need much less to reach your destination safely.

Will you continue polishing outputs no one needs, or make a real impact and change the game for your users? Start creating outcomes today that truly matter to your users.

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