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We’re doing a series on Marty Cagan’s new book - “Transformed”. If you’d like to see the other parts of the series, check it out:

Part 1 - Empower Teams with Problems to Solve

Quintessential Thought

Principle 2: Focus on What You Solve for Customers (Outcomes) not Features (Outputs)

“When do we expect this feature to get delivered?” Valid question, but one we focus on way too much. We can easily get trapped in this world of delivery without pausing to see if our efforts are helping our customers actually solve their problems. This is a symptom of a love of outputs more than outcomes.

It’s easy to see why this is appealing: it’s a lot easier to measure the delivery date of a feature than it is to understand the satisfaction of our customers and our ability to meet their needs. In Transformed, Cagan talks about how our focus needs to shift in how we build (so we can learn faster about our outcomes) and how we prioritize which problems to solve (the ones that impact our customers the most).

Quotes

Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing. - Peter Drucker

It is not enough to be busy. The question is what are we busy about? - Henry David Thoreau

One reason nature is efficient is because there is no waste. Everything produced creates value for others and is consumed by others on the basis of value. - Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr.

Quick Step

When you’re asked for feature delivery dates, talk about success criteria along with it. What changes will you see from your customers? What are you hoping will be different for your organization? Tracking these and talking about them more will help shift more towards outcomes.

Question

Where do you want to start talking about outcomes more? How would that motivate your team?

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