Outcome-driven work is your goldmine

Imagine you are running a goldmine. This goldmine is your organization, and the nuggets you hope to find are the valuable outcomes of your projects and initiatives. Let’s use this analogy to illustrate the difference between output-driven work and outcome-driven work. 

Output-oriented: Mining gold according to a planned approach

In a traditional, output-driven approach (similar to a planned approach on output), you are fully focused on the amount of gold mined (output). You strictly follow the OTOBOS principles: On Time, On Budget, On Scope. This means that you work exactly according to plan and within budget, with a strong focus on achieving predetermined goals. 

For example: 

• Schedule: You make a plan to mine 100 kilos of gold within six months. 
• Control: You maintain close supervision to ensure that you stay within the planned time and budget. 
• Evaluation: At the end of the six months, you measure how much gold you have mined. 

While you may have achieved your goal of mining 100 kilos of gold, you may not have looked at the quality of the gold or the potential to create more value from the mined resources. 

Outcome-driven: Focus on value creation

In an outcomes-driven approach, the focus is not only on the amount of gold mined, but especially on the value the gold generates and the impact on the organization and stakeholders. 

In this approach you would proceed as follows: 

• Set goals: Instead of just focusing on mining 100 kilos of gold, set goals that focus on the value that gold can generate. For example, “We want to mine high-quality gold that will generate $1 million in revenue.” 
• Flexibility: As you mine, you continually evaluate whether you are on track to create the highest value. This may mean adjusting your approach if, for example, you notice that a certain area of ​​the mine is richer in higher-quality gold. 
• Feedback loops: You create strong feedback loops where you constantly collect and analyze data to adjust your strategy. This could mean having the miners improve their techniques, implementing new technologies, or exploring new areas of the mine in search of higher value gold. 
• Value creation: The emphasis is on delivering valuable outcomes, such as finding high-quality gold that you can sell for a higher price, rather than simply mining a set amount of gold. 

How do you do that in practice?

To do this, it is important to have insight into OKRs, KPIs or business benefits. But this alone is not enough. Initiatives with business benefits are often large and compelling, and if the execution does not provide sufficient feedback or value is delivered to customers or employees, you treat your initiative as a project anyway and you still deliver all the output. This is where slicing is extremely valuable. 

Slicing in portfolio management.

Treat your portfolio initiatives like little goldmines: 

1. Indicate what benefits you expect from an initiative (outcome). This is your business case.  
2. Then describe one or more features (output) from this initiative. With this you expect to redeem part of the benefits. Make sure that these features can be delivered in a limited period and also actually deliver customer or user value. 
3. Measure the impact on customers or users (KPIs).  
4. Then decide as the owner of this initiative: “Can I get more gold from the mine, or is my gold mine exhausted?” The answer determines whether you will describe more features, or whether the initiative is considered exhausted. 

The Goldmine Summarized 

Output-oriented working is like a miner who strictly adheres to extracting a certain amount of gold within a certain time and budget, without asking whether this is the most valuable way to work. It is focused on achieving predetermined output targets without regard to the actual value that is created. 

Outcome-driven work, on the other hand, is like a miner who is constantly looking for ways to extract the most value from the mine, even if this means changing his approach. He looks at the quality of the gold, the best techniques to mine it, and adjusts his strategy based on feedback and new insights, with the ultimate goal of creating the highest value for the organization.