Wednesday Wisdom: Outputs vs Outcomes

Today's Wednesday Wisdom is brought to you by Indra Books of Agility for All. Have a question? Post it in the comments.  

Today we have a question that came in our Wednesday Wisdom comments. What is the difference between outputs and outcomes and where should I be focusing? 

The easiest way to think about it is an output is a reflection of what you have done. And an outcome is a reflection of the value that you have created. 

Think of it this way. A new feature added to a mobile app is an output. You created something that ticks off an item on your list or backlog. The outcome is that the feature creates greater value for the customer, because they are now more easily able to conduct their transactions. 

So, what is the danger in focusing on outputs as a measure of success? 

If we consider success to be crossing items off the list, then one might say that outputs are a great measure. But, what if those items on the list fall short of creating value for the customer? 

We can use my story of the remote control and all of the buttons that have a function, but that are not utilized by the customer on a daily basis, if at all. The designers and producers of this remote control completed all of the tasks to add these buttons and features, but it appears that they never elicited broad spectrum customer feedback to determine if those features created any value. Therefore, while production of outputs was high, the outcome may not have been as intended or the outcome wasn't identified at all due to the focus on the outputs. 

While outputs are important as they drive toward the desire outcome they cannot be the sole measure of success. At the same time outcomes need to be well-defined and measurable as creating true value in order to ensure what is being delivered has a purpose.

 And that is today's Wednesday Wisdom. Don't forget. If you have a question post it in the comments. Tune in next week for our next segment.  

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